Users
by Starspike7
Summary: Ty, Danny, and Cody got pulled into a game one day. That game was Mass Effect. The three dub themselves Users and go on to change the game in ways only a User can. Now, they know they are changing the rules and having a good time doing it. What the Users don't realize is that by changing the rules for them, they change them for everyone and Saren knows. This is humor, not serious.
1. ATTENTION!

**Revised: Hello to Users fans of old and hopefully new. I am Starspike7, writer for this series. Those of you who have read this know how bad the orriginal first chapter sucked and also how it gets better later on. Well, never again will people think that. Today it has been rewritten**

**I just want to say that Herr Wozzeck, ****iNf3ctioNZ**, or Sarge1995 had no affect on this story. This is my story and I am not getting my inspiration from them. I have my own reasons.  


**Okay so this is my second fic and I thought about it for a while. I disliked my first one because it was so...tragic. At the time I started writing it I had a lot happen so it was a way to vent but now I feel it's time for a Humor induced fic to appear. So without further ado, User(s).**

I am Ty, not Tyler or Tyson not even Tyrel, my name is just Ty. I woke up one morning to the ringing of my phone. I got up and checked it out. When I answered, it was my boss over at servicemaster. He just called me up and said that his new employee didn't show up for his first day at work.

This was a problem in the fact that today was my day off. Not only that, I hadn't had a day off in a month thanks to our low employee-high work load mandate. I tried to say no I wasn't going to work but he said that if I didn't show up, I was fired. That would have freaked me out right away, I had to pay for college and all. Luckily, however, I made so little money last year I qualified for a pell grant.

This gave me more confidence than I should have had and I ended up telling my boss to piss off. He replied with saying my pink slip is in the mail. I didn't care though; I had 5,000 dollars of savings money to get me by while I was out of work.

In celebration of being fired from that horrible job, I decided on a Mass Effect marathon and started setting up my xbox. I made the decision last week to install all the games on my xbox so I wouldn't have to keep changing disks in the middle of the game. This also made my xbox work faster and I had the first game started up in a few minutes.

I began playing with the standard Shepard look and standard name. Following that I began playing with him as a soldier. I hadn't played through the first game as a soldier because my favorite class was engineer.

I began plating through and crushed my way through Eden Prime when I began to feel hungry. I realized I hadn't eaten and paused the game to grab a bite. I stepped into the kitchen and tripped on the wire connecting my fridge to the electrical plug. I got up rubbing the back of my head wondering why I couldn't enter the kitchen unless I was falling.

I reached into the pantry and grabbed some Funions. From there I walked over to the fridge and took out a six pack of coke. When I closed the fridge I saw the note that had been hanging there for a month. It just said 'goodbye'. That's how a girl that you have been with for four years leaves, a fucking written note.

I turned away and went back to the couch. I sat down and accidentally sat on my football. It caused me to slide off the couch and onto the ground where I sat for a moment. I got angry and threw the xbox at the TV screen. It hit the TV and shot back at me thanks to the reverse polarity exparament my ex did on it.

The girl needed a TV and I loaned it to her. Now if you get near enough to it, it will launch you into the kitchen. I learned that the hard way when I was drunk.

Anyway, I sat back down and started powering though the game. I was beating it so fast that I spent more time waiting for the levels to load than actual playing. It was so damn fun.

Then everything did a 180 on me when an error message came up on the screen. It was right after I had saved Liara and they were debriefing. The message said "Inputting new character. Please stand by." I clicked the Okay button and my controller lit up like a Christmas tree. Not knowing what to do, I hit the X button hoping that it would stop what was going on.

Suddenly, I watched myself turn green and matrix code washed over my body. I looked over at the TV and everything seemed to turn 3D. I felt myself get yanked out of my seat any I flew towards the TV.

I got up and looked around; it looked like I was in the comm room on the Normandy with a whole lot of ugly two inches away from my face. "Oh, my god mutated frog thing", was all that came out as I latched on to the first humanoid person near me. I looked directly up and saw a face bathed in blue. This caused me to jump to the middle of the floor. Giving me a chance to look around to which I saw that I was surrounded by video game characters from Mass Effect. That is where I will begin the story of how an error message sent my life for a loop.

Shepard stayed in his seat just staring at me as if he had something to say but didn't know how to phrase it. Garrus however had his tongue and was capable of using it.

"Okay, who the hell are you and why did you sneak onboard the Normandy?"

"Technically Garrus, he teleported onto the ship", Tali cut in from behind him.

I was at an impasse, I just woke up in the Mass Effect universe and was at gun point with the protagonists. I had to think quick _but what do I say_.

"I'm your creator!" _Great first thing I say and I just told them I am god. I'm sure they will believe me. Fuck!_

Garrus was caught by surprise by this and lowered his gun a little bit but quickly brought it back up and put it to my head. Wrex came right next to him and pulled a knife. He looked at it then to me and got a devilish smile on his face. Thinking it over _maybe it would have been a better idea to say I was a biotic stow away._

Wrex just began laughing in his low krogan tone, "Maybe we should check to see what god looks like on the inside?"

Garrus just held his weapon strait keeping an emotionless face, "I bet he's full of sunlight and rainbows."

I had to think fast so I pointed to Shepard and said the first thing that came to my mind, "Actually, I only created him."

Shepard went from the contemplating look from earlier to a look of WTF, "Yeah right, and Wrex is my uncle."

This just pissed me off, I had my life on the line and they were treating it like it was a fucking joke. "Oh yeah, then how do you explain that I know almost everything about you. You grew up as a spacer. Living from ship to ship and the only time you got some time on the ground was when you went to see your grandparents. You were stationed on Elysium when the skylion blitz occurred and you single handedly held off the Batarian forces until the alliance could come in and assist you."

Shepard's eyes widened but quickly shot back to regular size, "You could have learned that from my personal file. Nice try creator."

"More like User."

"What?"

"Well, I mean I come from a place where this is a video game and your people are a complete work of fiction. I am a player of the game A.K.A. a User."

"Okay so how do you change from creator to user?"

"Well, the game has its basic guidelines and as a point in it you get to create your Shepard. So, in a way I created you."

"I don't fucking believe this. Garrus, get rid of him."

"With pleasure", Garrus replied as he reached out to grab me. I quickly threw my hands up and prayed for a weapon to defend myself. Then, I got a picture in my head of the omni-blade. Behind that picture a swarm of green numbers ran. It looked like something out of the matrix.

When I opened my eyes however, everyone was standing and staring at the omni-blade that sat glowing on my right arm. I looked around and saw Garrus staring at it with envy. Wrex kept looking from his blade to mine, probably trying to decide which is better. Tali had her omni-tool out and was scanning it. Shepard just stared at it.

Shepard was the first to speak, "What the hell is that?"

"It looks to be a bayonette-type attachment for the omni-tool. Keelah, it says it was programed just now."

Wrex came lumbering forward, "Doesn't matter it's just a weapon that can be broken."

Wrex brought his full might down with the knife into my blade. His shattered and mine stayed completely unscathed. This was my chance to make something up and save my ass now.

"You like it. I call it the omni-blade. It is as strong as steel and as hot as the sun. So you want to pick a fight. I'll slice you in half before you even get close!" My big talk was cut short when I was put in a stasis by Liara. Then Wrex back handed me and I went flying across the room into a wall and was out cold.

_ Okay, not my best plan_, was the first sentence that came into my head after waking up in the brig. I looked around and saw that it was built in the same fashion as the holding cells we would see on Virmire. That meant that it was only able to be unlocked from the outside.

This was too stupid. I get sucked into Mass Effect only to get knocked out by Wrex. Something was wrong here, I began to try and rationalize what had happened. Everything went 3D and then bam, I was here. First thing I thought was that it might be a prank off one of those stupid shows that MTV puts on.

I got up and walked around the cell, "Okay, you got me! Who is behind this? Cody, Danny, or Colt?"

About an hour passed and I was still stuck in the brig with no reply. I sat down and thought of a different explanation. I thought that maybe this was a dream but the throbbing in the back of my head told me otherwise. _God, this is like a bad fan fiction._

I figured that if I was here then I should try to at least take some measure to see if it was real. I thought about a way I could test to see if it was real or not. Then I came up with an idea.

I put my arm out and tried to activate an omni-tool and got nothing. Then I closed my eyes and focused on a picture of an omni-tool and when I opened my eyes...I got nothing. _This has to be some sort of a joke_, I thought. Then the doors opened.

I looked up to see bug face waltz in like he owned the Normandy, "Okay user, we keep trying to get your IFF but you don't seem to be bringing anything up. Why is that?" Garrus was being smug and talking in the tone he would when giving interrogations.

"I told you, I'm from another universe where this is a video game. We don't have omni-tools." I had to reply in a calm voice although that looked to be making Garrus angrier.

"Alright then put out your hand", Garrus said through gritted..._would you call them mandibles?_ I complied and he began searching my arm. "Where did you get that weapon from? If you don't have an omni-tool?"

I spoke calmly but I asserted my point, "I just thought about it and it came into being. At least that's what I think happened."

Garrus gave a smirk, "Oh really." Then he pulled a gun on me and put it to my head. That is when the omni-blade reappeared. Garrus moved fast and scanned it. A moment later he was standing before me with the same blade and ready to use it.

I couldn't beat him in a fight if we were given the same tools so I looked at my omni-blade and imagined it turning into an omni-taser. Suddenly the blade split into two prongs and an electrical current formed between the two.

"Garrus, what do you guys want from me", I replied as I got into a fighting stance.

"Just want to get to know you", with that Garrus leapt at me. His omni-blade collided with mine and he went flying across the room. I walked up to him and saw that the electrical current from mine had propelled him backwards. I waved my hand in front of his face to try and wake him up but he was out cold.

I knew that this wasn't going to help me at all so I just got up and sat at the other end of the room trying to activate my nonexistent omni-tool.

**Tali:**

Tali had been working on the core for a full six hours strait by now and decided it was time for a break. She waved over the Head Engineer and pointed at the door. He gave her a nod and she left.

Tali got into the hanger to see Wrex leaning against his usual crates and Gunnery Chief William's repairing the commander's assault rifle. Then' she looked to the Mako but Garrus wasn't at his usual station. Tali had never seen him leave the Mako's side since they were aboard the Normandy.

Her curiosity getting the better of her she went to look for him seeing as he was the only one not on duty currently. She checked the Main deck but the only person that could tell her was the pilot. Joker, as they called him, did a sweep of the ship and said he had gone to the holding cells about twenty minutes ago.

Tali thanked him and left to go see what he was doing but stopped in her tracks when she realized that he was probably interrogating the stow away. She thought about it and came to the conclusion that it was probably a good idea to talk to him and find out how he got his weapon.

Tali made her way to the holding cell and as she got near she saw a flash of light followed by the prisoner yelling something about how something took long enough. When she got to the window, she saw Garrus sitting against a wall and the prisoner turning on and off an omni-tool. _Wait Garrus isn't moving_

Tali rushed in and pulled her shotgun on the prisoner, "What did you do?"

The prisoner just pointed to his arm, "I got my omni-tool working."

Tali checked the corner of her visor and saw that it read Andrew Shepard, "Is this some kind of a joke?" Tali began glaring at the prisoner but it probably wasn't very intimidating from behind a mask.

The prisoner just stayed sitting, "Uh, yeah that's because I named my last character Andrew Shepard and due to that I can't change its IFF."

"Character? Shepard? What are you talking about?"

**Ty:**

_Okay, my favorite character from Mass Effect has me at gun point. Garrus is out cold on the other side of the room. My IFF reads Andrew Shepard. Could this day get any worse?_

Then, backup arrived in the form of a N7 Marine, "What's going on here?"

"We are just having a tea party here, Shepard. Garrus over there is passed out cause he had too much. What do you think happened? He attacked Garrus and has stolen your identity!"

"Not true, Garrus came in here to attack me and I defended myself. Second, I got my omni-tool activated and it reads Andrew Shepard, not John."

Shepard grabbed the bridge of his nose, "Okay, well since I am down a man. Andrew, you're coming with us to Noveria."

_That seemed too easy; I accidentally knock Garrus out and am drafted into Shepard's team for Noveria. _"Okay, I'm stumped why?"

Shepard left the room and didn't say a word. Then I looked to the left and saw Tali still had her shotgun trained on me. "Tali, will you get your gun away from me." Tali just glared back.

"Well Andrew, I will but remember. If you try anything at all-"

"I know you have a shotgun."

Tali left mumbling something about me being a boshtet. I looked over to Garrus and saw him begin to stir. I was out the door before his eyes could even twitch.

I headed straight for the Mess Hall and didn't look back. Okay, my name is now Andrew. Might as well roll with it. _Now wouldn't be the best time to tell them that it is the last Shepard I played through with. Wait, does that make me an engineer?_

**Shepard:**_  
_

Shepard's eye's continued to twitch. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that this stow away was important. _But how?_

Shepard began reliving the events that had lead up to this point. The mission to Eden Prime and Saren killing Nihlus, meeting Garrus, Wrex, and Tali, becoming a specter, and finding Liara and this kid appearing. _How did he get here?_

Shepard hated being out of the loop and more importantly the unknown circulating in the loop.


	2. Noveria

**Ty:**

There I sat in the mess eating a regular portion and staring at Wrex as he gulped down two biotic portions. He just continued eating like a freaking wolverine. Finally by the time I finished my first Wrex was grabbing a third helping.

I had to say something by this point, "Had enough to eat big guy?"

Wrex looked at me with a noodle hanging from his mouth, "You know I could eat three humans your size."

I put my hand up, "Don't, just don't. If you try I swear to god that I will give you heart burn until you die."

Wrex gave me that suspicious glare, "Hhhmmm takes a hell of a quad to stand up to a krogan."

"And even more to carry through with it", as I said it I pulled out my omni-blade.

Wrex just smiled and let out a deep voiced laugh. He gave me a nod then and stood to leave. He pushed in his chair and then grabbed his meal and took it with him.

As he was leaving he said one last thing, "Remember human, I can bite you in half."

I smiled and said what I always wanted to retort to Wrex, "Yeah, but I can have kids."

Wrex just walked away after that. I looked around feeling like I was out of place. _Probably because I am from a different universe entirely_. Instead of sitting there however, I got up and decided to speak to Shepard.

I walked over to the stairs and opened the door to see Garrus with a very pissed off look in his eyes. He saw me and quickly came with an uppercut knocking me back on my ass and sending me sliding several feet. Then he walked over and grabbed me by the neck lifting me into the air.

"That taser was powerful", he said as he reached for his belt, "but I prefer the gun. Does a hell of a lot more damage."

Garrus then carried me into the elevator and hit the button to go down. He then set me down and we spent a minute staring at each other. Then he spoke.

"You got a strange power kid. You're very unstable and what you pulled in the holding cell was downright low."

I turned my head to the side and leaned up against the elevator, "If you're going to beat me senseless please start instead of describing what you are going to do."

Garrus put his hand on the wall and leaned on it, "Well, I could break every bone in your body but then I'd lose a valuable ally."

I had just tazed this guy and he said that,"What?"

Garrus crossed one leg over the other as he was leaning, "Look if I was in the same position I would have done the same. Well, besides the omni-tool magic. By the way mind if I?"

I activated the taser, "Go ahead."

Garrus scanned the weapon and activated it, "Very nice, now about the whole creation of it."

I stood back up and gave a confused shrug, "I don't know I was stuck with my back against the wall and just thought about the weapon."

Garrus nodded and deactivated the tool, "I see. Well maybe we should get you some armor if you're taking my place on Noveria."

**Tali POV:**

Tali had just finished talking to the requisitions officer and her new shotgun was on the way. She got her scimitar shotgun upgraded to a mark V from a III. She figured that the upgrade was needed after her expirience on Therum.

She headed over to the elevator to see Garrus shaking hands with the prisoner. She didn't think and acted on instinct, which was rare for her. She ripped out her shotgun with extreme prejudice.

"Garrus! Get away from him! He's dangerous!"

Garrus brought his hands up and got in the way of Tali's shotgun, "Wooh, there Tali, I was just getting to know my replacement."

"What! Are you leaving the crew? What's going on?"

Garrus shook his head no very quickly, "No not at all. It's just his electro shock from earlier did a bit more damage than intended. Nothing to keep me out to long, but I'm a little too sore for Noveria."

Then, Andrew spoke up, "What do you mean Garrus? From what Joker told me you are just a baby when it comes to the cold."

Garrus stopped what he was doing and looked at the prisoner confused, "Did he now? Well maybe I should have a chat with our ever so honest pilot."

The prisoner just patted Garrus on the shoulder, "Settle down big guy not like you would have trouble breaking glass bones."

"I guess your right but", Garrus stopped and gave a security camera the bird, "but I can still send him a message."

The prisoner laughed, "Well, maybe you need to blow off some steam."

Garrus let out a huff, "I guess your right. I'll be over at the Mako doing some calibrations if you need me, Andrew."

The prisoner now dubbed Andrew gave a chuckle as Garrus was walking away. He laughed as if he had always wanted to hear that in real life.

Tali turned to Andrew, "I still don't trust you. Garrus may respect anyone that can put him on his ass but I find that concerning."

Andrew just threw his hands in the air still laughing, "Jesus Christ Tali. What did I do to deserve this?"

Tali glared at him, "You hurt my friend."

Andrew stayed silent for a moment still giggling then began to speak, "Look Tali, I've been through something similar to this before. How about instead of fighting over this, we hit the bar in Noveria and have a couple drinks."

Tali put her shotgun down by her side and put her other hand on her hip, "Don't you try to get a date out of this. I should blow your head off right now."

"Not asking you out. Kind of just two people trying to get to know each other better. Erm, wait that sounded too much like a date. How about, two crew mates going for drinks. Does that sound fine?"

Tali thought it over for a moment. She saw something in his eyes, but what was it? Mischief? Pride? Or something else. Finally she decided to ignore it and answered, "In your dreams."

**Andrew/Ty:**

Tali took off in the opposite direction so I figured I might as well head over to Garrus. It was better than getting the cold shoulder and a shotgun from Tali.

"Garrus!" I yelled as I walked away from Tali.

Garrus turned around from his console, "Yeah, what do you need Andrew?"

I couldn't talk about what just happened with Tali in the room. I needed to think quick. _What do I need... oh I know._

"Where's the Commander?"

Garrus pointed straight up to the ceiling, "He will probably be making his rounds in an hour but if you need to find him he can be found writing reports in his office."

"Thanks", was all that came out before I sprinted back to the elevator and went up. I started clawing the walls with anticipation. I get to go onto Noveria with Commander Shepard and whoever else he picks. On top of that, I get to fight. _This has to be a fucking dream._

I stepped out of the elevator and over to Shepard's room. I knocked on the door and got no answer. I figured I need to get in and just hit the button.

Then the doors opened and I walked calmly but quickly to Shepard's room. Shepard quickly turned from his desk and tried to keep me from seeing what was on the screen. However, I did catch a glimpse of FORN and that could only mean one thing.

Shepard tried to play it off like he hadn't been caught, "Hey, Andrew what can I help you with?"

I just face palmed, "God, it's just like what happens in TV shows except I'm in the parents spot."

Shepard just looked at me inquisitively, "What do you mean?"

"Shepard I just caught you on! Never mind I'm not going to say it aloud. It's embarrassing enough without the whole crew knowing about it."

"What's embarrassing enough?"

My voice dropped so low that only Shepard could hear, "Shepard you're on Fornax. What the hell?"

Shepard started to go into defensive mode but then stopped, "Why does it matter to you?"

"Because Shepard I created you. And I did not have xenophile in mind when I did."

Shepard just stood up to tell me off although the effect was lost when you're yelling at a whisper, "Will you quit saying you created me. For one I'm twenty-nine and your eighteen-"

"I'm 23 thank you very much."

"Whatever, it still doesn't help your case of being my creator." Shepard ended his line with a deep scowl.

"Look thinks whatever you want. I made you to be the ultimate paragon and a paragon doesn't look at porn."

Shepard just waved me off and turned back to his computer. I got fed up and walked over to tell him off when I saw the title. QUARIANs.

I just face palmed, "Oohh, you have got to be fucking kidding me."

Shepard looked at me confused, "About what?"

I gestured toward the screen, "You're looking at this and what happened just a few minutes ago and I was just coming up to tell you something."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Okay, start with the last thing."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Yeah, you remember why I call myself a User?"

"Yes, you said you have played through this before and if you are a user or whatever. I think it would be a good idea for you to tell me what will happen on Noveria."

Suddenly, all the fan fics I have read came back to me. The first rule was that you don't change future events, "Okay fine but you have to promise me that you will not let it change any decisions you make."

Shepard rolled his eyes at me, "I promise."

And so it begins...


	3. What does that button do?

**Shepard:**

Shepard was stunned to say the least. Andrew his 'creator' or 'user' just told him that the Rachni are on Noveria. Worse is that he will have to kill Liara's mother. _This can't be good._

Shepard had switched his computer from his guilty pleasure to research on the Rachni. His eyes quickly would scan over millions of sites that offered advice for killing Rachni. Most said that shotguns were the only acceptable weapon in combat situations dealing with the Rachni. Although, Shepard wanted an opinion from a site that didn't bring pop ups about the genophage every time he clicked the word Krogan.

Scanning through, he found that they breed from a queen like most hive mind insects and that they have workers and warriors. He went on to read that queens have the power to overtake someone's mind and use them for their own purpose. He began to worry but then something struck him. Andrew didn't seem worried about this at all.

Shepard finally decided to leave it. He then got up and went to eat. Figuring that there would be no problems with actually not starving himself. Shepard opened the door and saw Tali was about to walk in.

Shepard looked at Tali with a surprised face, "Oh, Tali. What are you doing here?"

Tali looked behind her and gestured at Shepard's room, "Could we step inside?'

Shepard stepped back and allowed Tali to enter. Once she was inside he closed the door and allow for the privacy she requested, "What can I do for you Tali?"

Tali crossed her arms and began to pace beck and forth, "Why did you decide to take that bosh'tet with us?"

Shepard eyes widened, he had been asking himself the same question, "I… honestly don't know."

Tali stopped and stared at him, "You just let this guy who tazed our friend to waltz onto Noveria with us, no questions asked? What if he tries to escape?"

Shepard opened his mouth to reply but the words didn't come to him. He sat for a second and then knew what to say, "Because, this is my mission and I will take responsibility for him. As for tazing Garrus, He was attacked the kid. Ergo, it was just self-defense. I already talked with Garrus about it, he agreed that he would have done the same if he was in a prison cell and attacked."

Tali stamped her foot, "Fine, but I want to go with."

Shepard was perplexed by the Tali's need to go, "Why's that?"

Tali kept her stance, "If he's going to screw us over, I want to be the one to shoot him."

**Andrew:**

Exiting Shepard's room it just hit me. I looked down at my clothes and saw I was wearing my "The Flash" tee shirt and a pair of shorts. Now regularly, I wouldn't mind, but Noveria was a frozen planet and I would be getting shot at. I quickly pulled up my omni-tool and tried to check my current credit count.

It looked as if more than Andrew Shepard's name followed me. I had 40,000 creds in my account and some strange programs built in to my omni-tool. I figured better to get the armor first and then focus on the programs next.

I stepped over to the elevator and hit down. I was waiting in the elevator for the length of time I don't even want to talk about when a chill suddenly ran down my spine. I brought my arms in to keep some warmth when matrix code over took my eyesight again.

I quickly blinked it off and felt dizziness come over me. I thought about what I had just saw and I think there was a picture in the code. I just show my head and continued to wait for the elevator to open.

Over the intercom I heard Joker announcing we had just broken Noveria's atmosphere. "Great, I hope I have enough time to take a shower", I muttered as the doors to the elevator opened releasing me from the steel cage. I stepped out and walked over to the requisitions officer.

"Hey there", he glanced down at his omni-tool to read my IFF, "Andrew. What can I get for you?'

"I need the best Scorpion, light weight, armor you have."

The req. Officer turned around and began shuffling through his gear. "Ah, there it is", he finally announced. He then slapped it down on the table, "Scorpion armor level VI that will be 27,510 creds."

I transferred the creds and grabbed my armor, "Thank you."

"Wait, seeing as how you don't have any weapons", he pulled a pistol out from behind his back, "how about this HMWP level VIII?"

I thought about it for a minute, "How much?"

He smiled like he had hooked me, "How much you got left."

"6,000." It was a total bluff. But I had to see if he would take it.

He thought for a long while. "I can't sell this for less than 13,000."

I got devious by this point, "Take the six as a down payment. Then, after Noveria I will get you an additional 9,000."

He quickly took the offer, "Done!"

He threw me the pistol collapsed and I transferred more money. I was quickly off after that hoping to get a shower in before the mission. I ran in, stripping quickly trying to get it over with before someone came in. I almost did too, till Liara had to clean up.

It was the most awkward thing I ever had to endure. A woman,_ that monogender thing is bull shit_, is in the showers with me. Now, I could have finished and left but she took the shower next to me and began trying to chat. I kind of froze at this point.

"So Andrew, how has your short time on the Normady treated you? Aside, from me putting you in a stasis."

_God I hate how coolly she is playing this off_, "Good, where Wrex hit me is a little sore but I'll get over it. You going in on Noveria too?"

"Yes, Shepard decided to take me along. He believes my biotics will be useful against my mother's. It is interesting reasoning, but I am more interested in how you got here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well it was a biotic power that I have never seen before."

"It wasn't biotics, I was zapped in here because of an error message."

"Aw, yes sticking to your video game world story."

"It's not a story if it's true. I beat this game tons of time. I can tell you everything that will happen up to the point that Shepard dies."

"Is that so, why won't you tell us any of it if you know it."

"Because Liara, what if you try to change things in the game and you end up in the situation I tell you but way worse."

Liara brought out some body wash and began lathering herself, I could stop watching until she spoke, "Can you answer me one question?"

I looked in the other direction, "Depends on what the question is."

"What form of government was the Prothian people accustomed to."

"Empire, slaves and all."

Liara looked at me like I was crazy, "You have to be joking me. All the evidence points to them being a democracy. Uplifting other societies to join them in the galaxy to create a perfect society. They're the ones we got the idea of the Citadel council from."

"Believe what you will, I bet when you hear it from Javik I will be there to say 'I told you so.'"

Before she could respond I was out of there. I couldn't risk telling her any more. Especially, with that look she had, I was tempted to tell her something else.

I got on my gear and went to talk to Garrus. "Yo, Valkyrie."

Garrus looked away from his console, "Its Vakerian."

"I think Valkyrie fits better. Makes it sound like you are about to take the people you kill to the afterlife."

Garrus looked over to the Mako, "Ha, yeah but you know what?"

I was smiling from the pun I just made, "What?"

Garrus gave me a look directly in the eyes, "I really would like to know your real name."

I shook my head, "Look, Garrus while I'm in this universe my name is Andrew."

Garrus leaned in close, "Yeah, but what about outside this universe?"

I gave a laugh, "Okay Garrus, the second someone else from my universe comes to this universe I'll tell you."

Garrus gave a Turian grin, "I'll hold you to that."

I ran my hand through my hair, "Yeah, you probably will. So any idea when I am supposed to leave?"

Joker's voice cut in as if to answer my question, "We have arrived at the facility. Will Wrex, Liara, Tali and Andrew please come to the air lock?"

Garrus just smiled, "Right now."

I looked at my bundle of clothes, "Crap, Garrus, What am I supposed to do with stuff?"

Garrus looked around then turned around and hit some buttons on the console and the Mako back opened up, "Here toss it in here. We will find you a locker, later."

"Thanks", was all that was said before I threw the clothes in and made my way up to the airlock.

**Tali:**

Tali herd the call and left engineering. She went through the doors to engineering and caught the elevator right before Andrew hit the button to close the doors. She stepped inside trying to give off as much anger as she could.

The fact that Andrew paid her no attention but a glance or two made her a little at ease but his stupid smile he was wearing. It's like he was just excited for this mission. They were about to take on a mission that could possibly be the most dangerous than Therum and this idiot wasn't taking it seriously.

Tali finally rolled her eyes, "Would you get rid of that stupid smile?"

Andrew just stared at her. It was all Tali could do to keep from smacking him in the face. She couldn't read his expression but his body language told that he was surprised. Then, Andrew got a look that didn't give Tali the feeling he was about to say something nice.

"Well, at least people can see my expression", then he went back to smiling like he was listening to his favorite song.

Tali clenched her fists, "That's not an accurate assumption."

Andrew's eyes grew wide and as soon as the doors opened and Andrew was gone. Tali didn't even notice he was moving until he was across the hall and heading up the stairs. She hurried to catch up but couldn't move at the speed he was. Finally, she got to the airlock as everyone was ready.

Shepard nodded to Joker who hit the button and opened the doors. They all walked through and entered the frozen wasteland. Tali looked around and saw Shepard's eyes go to security officers up at the entrance to the facility.

Shepard turned back to everyone, "Okay we are going to head inside but the security over there doesn't look too happy to see us. Whatever you do don't hand over your weapons. Got it?"

Tali answered with the two others yes but all she heard Andrew say something about it 'being as cold as an itch'. She chose not to question him about it and they went up to the officers.

Shepard began speaking with them and the rest of the crew stood by incase he needed them. Everyone except Andrew who leaned up against some crates and began fiddling with his omni-tool. Tali couldn't help but look over his shoulder to see what he was doing. He looked to be hitting buttons trying to open up some programs Tali had never seen before.

She decided to just ask about it when they got inside. Things were getting heated in Shepard's conversation and as he was going for his pistol, a freeze drone launched past them and into the security commander.

**Andrew:**

I didn't want to freeze the lady. Honestly, I just wanted to open up this damn locked program. When I did a blue button came to life on my omni-tool. I decided to hit the button and this caused it to move to my palm. I pressed it again and it fired. It was a mistake anyone could have made.

I looked over to the lady in time to watch her fall to the ground and shatter. Then, the place lit up with fire. The security officers opened fire on us and we ducked into cover. Well, actually it was more like Shepard tackled me into cover while the others dove.

Shepard gave me a scowl, "Andrew! Why the hell did you do that?!"

I was just stunned, "I..I..I was messing with some programs on my omni-tool and it just fired that drone!"

Shepard face palmed, "Well, I hope you have an idea! Because we aren't hurting those security personnel!" As Shepard said that Wrex blew one away with a blast from his shotgun.

Shepard turned away to yell as Wrex and left me sitting there. It was a good thing that I was in cover because I was too scared to move. I could only think to myself. _How can I fight? I never fought someone in my life and now I have to take on people who have guns. This isn't good at all._

With that I face palmed, and when my hand touched my face the matrix came back with a TV screen. On that TV screen was a quick montage of all the video games I had played and then all the fighting moves and accuracy shooting in those games flowed into my brain and then the numbers fade. I was left completely aware and ready for the situation.

My body began acting on its own, moving and reacting were reflex not thought. I quickly made my way out of cover and dodged bullets and swatted grenades as I made my way to the security personnel. When I got there I began using the freeze program to render them unable to move.

First, I blasted the Turian as he put his shotgun sights on me. The I turned to the bitch that would attack us later and did the same to her. The I turned to the last guard, she had a pistol trained on me. I quickly smacked the pistol up and blasted her in the face with the freeze drone. She was frozen before her pistol hit the ground.

When I was done I felt as though I created a master piece. The guards looked like statues that would be placed in a crystal museum. Each guard frozen in a combat stance, and here on Noveria they wouldn't get out of it.

I turned and started walking up the stairs but quickly turned back to the squad, "You guys coming or not?"

They all just stared at me. _Not a good sign._


	4. Sharing is good

**Shepard:**

Shepard didn't know what he just saw. The kid who couldn't figure out how to use an omni-tool just became a killing machine three seconds into a fire fight. After, all he did was ask if they were coming.

"Sir, are you listening?"

Shepard snapped out of his deep thought and to the lady in front of him. She was trying to explain that they don't take well to people killing their security personnel. Shepard just nodded his head and replied.

"Well, since I'm a council specter and these are my deputies we will be going in now", Shepard hated having to use his specter status to avoid punishment but in this case they couldn't be kept by one incident.

"Alright, just please fill out this paper work and you may go."

Shepard took the data pad she brought out and began filling it out. While he was he caught Andrew moving in the corner of his eye. He looked over to see him jumping in the elevator and Tali following close behind, determined not to let n=him escape.

He motioned to Liara, "Keep an eye on those two, Andrew has already started a fight and we are not even in the facility."

Liara nodded, "I'm on it Shepard." She then ran over to the elevator and took it down. _I just hope I don't have to shoot my way out of the next scrap._

**Andrew/Ty:**

We just got done with the fight and Shepard began speaking with the secretary lady. Same boring stuff as usual, I, on the other hand, couldn't put a full thought together. My head was ringing from all the combat knowledge that I had unlocked in a matter of milliseconds. Now, every corner, every hallway, and every room was a danger zone.

I could feel the knowledge of the different video game characters in my head. I knew the inside and out of all my gear thanks to my past Shepard. I had Solid Snake's infiltration ability. I received the accuracy mastered by John 117. All this knowledge was now bouncing around in my head.

Then, it all just stopped. I felt like I had just come off a high. The lights seemed to dim as the knowledge and skill I had received went back in the part of my brain that they had come from. Following this I saw that Shepard was distracted to. Now was my only chance to get out of the stupid receptionist area.

I nudged Tali, "Hey, Sparks, want to go now?"

Tali turned to me, "Sparks?"

"Yeah, a guy you will meet later gave you the name in one of my play throughs."

"Very interesting, and you are telling me this because?."

I took off with her following and led her to the elevator. We got in and I hit the down button. The elevator took off faster than the one in the game. It still, however, took like a full two minutes to get to the bottom. As, soon as the doors opened I was out with Tali on my heels.

We got out and began walking when I looked off to my right and saw the Hanar. I made a right turn and went over to his corner.

"Greetings Human, this one would-"

I cut him off not in the mood for the Hanar third person talk, "Yeah, yeah just show me your alien armors."

Tali crossed her arms, "What are you doing Andrew?"

I gave her a smile, "I figured that I might as well get you something special for our date."

Tali just snapped at me, "We are not going on a date."

I just waved my hand at her, "Outing whatever."

Tali just glared which made me want to laugh, "Not whatever, we aren't going anywhere. We should get back to Shepard. I only followed you so you wouldn't escape."

I just smiled while I was looking at the screen, "Funny, if a girl said that in the real world, it would mean she liked you."

Tali just huffed and walked away. I didn't mind it too much. I was getting her something that I thought she would like more now than a new shotgun. I got her Light Colossus armor.

I then walked over to her carrying it in a box, "Hey, Tali got you a present!"

She looked at me then the door and back to me. I honestly thought she was going to leave but she turned and walked right up to me., crossing her arms trying to look angry.

"Okay, we should go back to Shepard and what's in the box?"

"It's your present", I said as I handed it to her.

She opened the box and her eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. She pulled out the armor and I got the feeling that armor for her was like getting new clothes for a girl back in my universe. Tali immediately put it back in the box and shook her head.

"Why did you do this for me?"

I just smiled, "Because Tali, I kind of like you."

Tali stood up and crossed her arms, "But I don't like you and you barely even know me."

I just shrugged off the comment and changed the subject, "So we going to hit the restaurant or just stay here and chat it up with the Hanar."

Tali picked up the box, "I still don't believe you know the future. I want you to prove it."

Her comment caught me by surprise but I had something that I could tell her that would prove it, "you have something for Shepard."

Tali suddenly began stuttering, "Wh...What...no...no I don't know what you're suggesting."

I got a little bit nostalgic and brought up a quote that she would say in her future but my past, "Really, What could I possibly be suggesting? I mean, a young woman gets rescued by a dashing commander who lets her join his crew and then goes off to save the galaxy. How could she possibly develop any kind of interest in him?"

Tali just looked away, "Would you mind if I take this stuff back to the ship and get ready?"

I let her and she took off with lightning speed. My only thought was that I hoped she would come back.

**Tali:**

Tali hurried away quickly. She couldn't believe he knew that. He wasn't from the future. That was all she kept telling herself. Then again, He knew her for maybe an hour before making that accusation and being dead on.

Tali put the thoughts out of her head and pressed the button for the elevator. Tali looked over at Ty not sure if this was a ploy to escape or not. Then, it opened and Liara stepped out.

Liara gave a look of surprise, "Hello Tali, what are you doing?"

Tali paid no attention to her reaction, "I need to get up to the ship. Andrew bought this armor for me to put on."

Liara got suspicious, "That was actually very nice of him."

Tali needed to get going, "Um, yes would you mind keeping him "company"while I go to the ship and put this on?"

Liara just nodded her head and Tali hit the button to go up. The elevator took forever as usual but it was still faster than the one on the Normandy. As soon as the doors opened Tali was out and running to the ship. She rushed past security and to the airlock where she entered from and made her way to the med-bay where it was sterile enough for her to change.

**Andrew/Ty:**

Tali took off in a rush that somewhat scared me. I know she wanted to get the stuff on but she literally sprinted off. If that wasn't bad enough Liara came around the corner and walked right up to me.

"Hello again Andrew."

I tried not to pay her too much attention and turned on my omni-tool. I began working through all the different programs I had and found one that I knew would be useful. I activated it and a green button came up right next to the blue one.

"Andrew, what did you just activate?"

I smiled, "Here I'll show you." I hit the button and spawned a security drone. I sputtered to life and spoke for its self.

"Drone 2405, reporting for duty." It sounded like an army drill sergeant.

Liara looked confused, "Who is that?"

I knew enough to explain, "Well, my last Shepard was an engineer. He had this drone as one of his assets. Pretty cool huh."

Liara just shook her head and turned to me, "Andrew, would you mind if I connected our minds?"

I kind of reeled back at that, "Uh, why would you do that?"

"I feel that if you are telling the truth that you should have nothing to hide from me."

I thought about it for a minute and decided that if she did it there needed to be a condition. "Okay, but if you tell Shepard anything that is up here, I will… destroy you", sure it was a bluff but I needed to let her know that it was serious and the nostalgia was still kicking with Jack.

Liara just nodded her head, "Your request is understandable and I would like you to know that I will honor your request." Her eyes then closed, "Embrace Eternity!"

Everything went in to a flash of matrix and my memories. It just kept flashing from a memory to matrix, my eighteenth birthday, matrix, high school graduation, and matrix. I just kept going, until after I watched myself get sucked into the TV screen then everything went black.

My eyes opened to see Liara fall and me shortly after. I lay on the ground till a pair of Turian feet came into view and stopped in front of my body. Then with a swift motion of the foot everything went black.

**Tali:**

Tali had finished getting her armor on and checking all of her suits seals before leaving the sterile room. Upon exiting, she ran into Garrus at the door.

"Garrus?"

Garrus gave a look of surprise, "Tali, you look different. Let me guess Shepard?"

Tali shook her head, "No it was Andrew. He just stopped and got me this armor."

Garrus thought for a moment, "Well, that was kind of him."

Tali resorted to her usual naive state, "Yes it was."

Garrus just shrugged, "Well, I figured I'd stop by here and let Chakwas know I am leaving the Normandy."

Tali became perplexed, "Oh, why is that."

Garrus pointed with his thumb over his shoulder gesturing to the stairs, "He said he couldn't find you, Andrew, or Liara and he needed help getting to a security chiefs computer."

Tali just shrugged, "Okay, sounds like you will need me. "

"Let's go then", and with that the two headed up to the airlock.

Along the way Tali noticed that she was feeling something about Andrew and Liara being off somewhere but figured it to be curiosity and nothing more. They got to the airlock and hit the button opening it and reentering the frozen world once again. Tali loved the new armor as it gave her more warmth in the weather.

They passed security and saw that the security was tighter than when she had passed by to go and change. The elevator was slow as usual. Then, finally they made their way to Shepard outside an elevator.

Garrus pulled out his sniper, "Okay Shepard, who needs to be dropped today."

Shepard nodded to them, "We got a Turian Security chief who promised his security clearance to the garage for some files off his computer."

Tali just turned to the elevator, "Why would he need us to get his files?"

Wrex just cut in before Shepard could get a word out, "Security has got the place locked down tight. Can we just get on with it? I want to feel a human skull under my boot."

Shepard just stood there and stared at Wrex, "Don't worry Shepard; you are on my good list. For now."

Tali didn't know what look Shepard was giving Wrex but his body language said to step off. Finally, they all piled in the elevator and started up to the office. The elevator was cramped regularly but today it was like a sardine can with three people in the elevator and one of them being a giant lizard.

The elevator finally opened and Wrex, Garrus, and Shepard ran ahead while Tali stayed behind to give tech support.

**Shepard:**

It was just another scrap in Shepard's book. They entered the office complex and Wrex immediately charged and trampled the two guards by the door. Then the room erupted into a hail of fire.

Shepard immediately jumped behind a nearby wall and pulled out his shotgun. He let his shields recharge and then leapt into action. He ran into the first guard smashing his shotgun handle into the guards face and then started firing rapidly blowing through two guards behind the first. Then Shepard turned to the first and saw him drop with a hole in his head.

Shepard looked forward to see Garrus give him a thumbs up but quickly draw his sniper back up and shoot a guard that was rushing Wrex. Shepard then turned to Wrex who picked up a guard and started using him as a hammer smashing into guards left and right rushing up the ramp and tackling the sniper into a wall.

Shepard took a look around and saw that all the guards were taken care of. He holstered his weapon and ran up to the office placing the drive into the port and collecting all the data. While it downloaded Shepard called to his team.

"Okay while it's uploading someone try and get ahold of Andrew and Liara."

Shepard was answered with three simultaneous, "I'm on it."

Each tried Andrew and Liara but none made connection. Then Shepard herds the voice of Kiara; the Security Chiefs second in command. _Well now I guess new security chief._ With two hostages both of which were their missing crew members.


	5. Oh, hi, AI

**Andrew/Ty:**

_ I am going to die._ I accepted that when I woke up in the clutches of Captain Kiara. We were in an elevator and I was being carried on the shoulders of one of the Turian. When I woke up however I was smashed face down into the ground. Then, they made me walk around a few corners and up a ramp. After that, they put me to my knees and I felt the barrel of a gun go to my head.

Have you ever had a gun to your head? If not try to imagine how you would act if you just got captured. Then, put a gun to your head. Chances are you would be freaking out. Now imagine the exact opposite for me. I was calm cool and collected. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. I kept thinking of how my friend Danny would act if he found out I got sucked into the Mass Effect universe.

I started remembering all the good times we had just hanging around and playing video games. I introduced him to Halo. He showed me Skyrim. _God, he would have a hay day if he got in here._

The officers began to argue with Shepard. I heard Shepard yell for the guards to put the guns down and then a few gun shots. One of which was right by my ear. Then the gun barrel pushed deeper and I heard the high pitched whine of the gun as the safety was turned off. _It's all over now._

Flash, crash, and bang was followed by an all too familiar voice yelling "ow!" I felt the gun move away from my head and my battle instincts kicked in. I dove forward and this nocked the bag off my head. I turned to see a body lying on top of Kiara and three guards rushing to help her. With this distraction I activated my combat drone and had him zap my restraints. Then, I sent him to help Liara.

I then ripped my pistol off of my side and shot down two of the guards and had my drone take out the third. I then walked over to Kiara.

She turned to me, "You little shit. Those were my best men."

I just smiled, "Well, I am the best." I fired a shot into her head and then took a look at the body lying on top of her.

As I bent over I heard Shepard run over with his team, "Andrew, what just happened?"

I gave him a look that showed I was pissed off, "I could ask you the same question. I honestly am in the dark. I allowed Liara to enter my mind-"

Tali quickly cut in, "You let Liara join minds with you." I could have sworn there was a hint of surprise.

Liara answered, "I was doing it to make sure we could trust his story. I am happy to say he is telling the truth."

I shook my head and rolled the body over, "Yeah, it didn't go over to well as you can see she passed out and did something to my head in the process." I reeled back when I saw who the body was, "No."

Shepard drew his weapon, "What is it, is he a threat?"

I shook my head, "No, he's my best friend."

**Shepard:**

Shepard froze after hearing what Andrew just said. _Another one?_ Was all that came to Shepard's mind after hearing it? He looked down at the boy. He was tall and had glasses on. He was wearing a purple collared shirt and grey jeans. From what Shepard could tell he looked to be in his teens but quickly dismissed that theory after remembering how old Andrew was.

They all sat by the boy for a few minutes waiting for him to do something until Andrew cut in, "What happened when he appeared?"

Shepard quickly ran the events through his mind and then answered, "Negotiations were breaking down and we were trying to think of what to do. As we looked again we saw the air over Kiara explode with green particles and your friend's body drop from the mist that it created."

Andrew shook his head, "Okay, so was that the same as when I did?"

Shepard shook his head recounting his entrance, "You came in a similar way but in a blue mist."

"That's why I thought you were a biotic", Liara quickly added.

I began to get impatient, "Okay, I think we should get him to the Normandy med-bay. Shepard?"

Shepard was quick to answer, "Alright, Wrex can you take him there."

Wrex just grunted and hefted Danny over his shoulder. Wrex began to leave but stopped when Liara called to him, "Wait Wrex, I'm coming with you", she turned to Shepard, "I need to visit the med-bay. I can't think strait since joining Andrew's mind.

Shepard nodded and watched as the three left. He then turned back to Garrus, Tali, and Andrew.

"Okay, we need to go talk to Li. Let's see if we can get his garage pass."

Andrew gave a short laugh attracting Tali's attention, "What's so funny Andrew?"

Andrew replied quickly, "Li, let's see. Heh, Rhyme jokes."

Tali just shook her head, "Forget I asked."

The quartet left the office area and headed down the elevators where they were quickly met by the secretary of the executor. She didn't look too happy to see them but it quickly faded when she saw the OSD. She just nodded and began to speak.

"Commander Shepard I-", she was quickly cut off by Andrew.

"Yeah, yeah we'll get Li to testify", was all he said as he rushed past her to the next elevator.

Shepard just looked back to the lady who was stunned by what Andrew just said. He figured he could just get the run down from Andrew so he ran after him.

He ran up and hit the button. Shepard just walked toward him but he got in the elevator and left without the rest of them. Shepard walked up and hit the button and waited for the elevator.

"Well, whatever he was saying about knowing the future was right", Garrus put in as they waited for the elevator.

Tali just shook her head, "He believes this is all a game. That could get him killed."

"If he is a good shot, I think he will be able to handle himself", Garrus replied.

Tali just turned to Shepard, "Shepard it might be a better idea to leave him at the ship while we head to Noveria."

Shepard contemplated it for a moment, "That might be the right idea. But then again, remember how he handled to guards. I'm honestly at a standstill."

The elevator arrived and the trio jumped on. It made its way upward with an uncomfortable silence. Then, the doors finally opened and Shepard saw Andrew sitting down with Li having drinks and laughing it up. He and his team walked over to the table.

Li looked at Shepard and then back to Andrew, "Is this the guy?"

Andrew just looked at Shepard and nodded, "Yep that's him."

**Andrew/Ty:**

I just sat there and smiled as Li told Shepard that I had convinced him to testify. I had a feeling of being a god as I knew what was going to happen and how it was going to. I knew this game inside and out. Never will I be caught unaware.

Shepard finished speaking to Li and then sat down at my table as Li left to speak to the woman. I had a feeling of pride wash over me. I could do things Shepard couldn't. Now, he knew it.

Shepard began speaking, "So Andrew, I've been thinking that you have been able to handle yourself very well."

My smile was getting even bigger, "Thank you Shepard."

He became uncomfortable, "But, I'm going to have you stay at the ship for to mission to peak 15."

I just began laughing but Shepard gave me a look that showed he was serious. "You're fucking joking, right? I mean what's your reasoning?"

Shepard just shook his head, "You're too young to jump into the fight with us."

I got angry at that, "Fuck off Shepard. That's bull shit and you know it."

Shepard put his hands up in defense, "Look, I promise next mission you're on the whole time. But you need some practice until then."

I got angry and my mind started to try and find a reason why I should go. I wasn't the strongest, smartest, or skilled. But I knew how the mission would go. I quickly displaced that thought and remembered that Shepard wouldn't let that be the only reason. I finally just sat back in my seat and signed the waitress for another drink.

Shepard tried to put something in but I just ignored him and chugged the rest of what I had. Suddenly, things got slower and Shepard seemed to be talking at a faster pace than before. I felt the buzz in the back of my skull and then I looked at my drink. It said ryncol, I didn't know about the name but the feeling it gave me made me happy. I should have been the most pissed off person in the world right then but I was just happy.

Shepard waved goodbye and got up. I tried to wave but I ended up making a motion for him to go away. The waitress came in and gave me another but I was so buzzed that I couldn't grab onto it. I sat there for a moment and just stared at the drink. A little while after just chilling there a Krogan sat down in front of me. I looked up at him and saw that he didn't look worse than a usual Krogan so I just ignored him. Then he waved his hand at me so I answered him.

"Hellomr.", I took a second to compose myself and slow down my speech, "hello Mr. Krogan. Can I help you?"

He just gave me an inquisitive look, "I have yet to see a human drink that much ryncol and continue to stand."

I found his voice funny; it was like he wanted to speak like a regular Krogan but was trying to keep composure to him, "Yeah, well, the college parties back at my fraternity had stronger stuff then that."

The Krogan just smiled, "Yes well care to put a wager on how much you can drink."

I laughed again, "Na, I may be buzzed but I know not to take a Krogan on in a drinking match."

The Krogan just stood up and began to walk away, "Oh well, my lord is in search of men to join his army. Would you care to join us?"

I wouldn't have joined an army if I had been sober but this sounded good when drunk, "Who's your lord?"

The Krogan just smiled, "His name is known to all."

I just laughed, "Well, all must be excluding me."

The Krogan's voice dropped to a whisper, "Saren."

I just stood up and walked away, actually more like stumbled to elevator and hit the button. After the elevator got to the floor I hit I made my way to the Normandy. I was crossing the foyer when I saw a small army massing outside the ramp to the garage.

It was huge and at the head of this army was the Krogan from the bar. I heard him yell something and then motion with his hand. Then, the whole army started moving toward the garage.

This freaked me out so I quickly ran to the Normandy, or more of a hurried drunken stumble. I got to the Normandy and went in through the airlock. I fell against the door and started banging on it to open up. I was so drunk that when the door opened I face planted right into Liara's chest. Now, any other time I might have enjoyed or been totally embarrassed by that but now wasn't the time.

I was too drunk and awkward so she started speaking first, "Oh, hello Andrew. What brings you back so early."

I rolled off of her and yelled over to Joker, "Joker, Shepard has an army headed his tail. We need to move over to the research center now!"

Joker just spun around in his chair, "Okay, now Andrew. You have had a lot to drink and we need to get you to the med-bay to get that worn off. Liara, would you?"

Liara nodded as she got up and went over to help me up but I just waved her off, "This isn't the time to start playing the he's drunk and new so he doesn't know what he's doing card. We need to move now."

Joker wouldn't listen and had some PFCs come and cart me off to the Med-bay. I got thrown on to a table right next to Danny. I looked over at him and he was just completely asleep. I reached over and tried to nudge him but fell off the table again and couldn't get up this time. Two feet walked over to me and stopped right in front of my prone form.

I heard a female voice come from the form standing over me, "Come now Ty. You should be completely fine with a shot of this."

There was a sharp pain in my neck followed by my vision realigning and a revitalizing of my hand eye coordination. I then got up and looked at the person in front of me. It was Chakwas but something was wrong. She said my real name. Suddenly, the interrogation aspects of video games came to my memory and I reacted quickly. I got to my feet and grabbed Chakwas neck like Sam Fisher does in Splinter Cell.

I put on the most angry face I could, "How do you know my real name?"

She acted completely calm and just stood there, "Please Ty, if you try to kill me you will lose."

This caught me by surprise, "Lose what?"

"Lose the game of course." She responded like it was common knowledge, "After all, you have been through this mission several times. Is it wrong if I spice it up for you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Ty you see it's just that you have played though it so many times that I figured that you would like to live it instead of just watching it behind a screen."

"What are you?"

Chakwas brushed my hand away and put her hand to her chin, like when she is contemplating something, "I am the AI for the game. You could say I am the story teller in the way that I can change it to a point but not all the way. Anyway, I figured it was getting too easy for you so I thought 'why not bring Ty in and let him have his own adventure' and here you are."

I pounded my hand into the table, "Why would you do this? I had a perfectly fine life on the other side of the screen."

"Because Ty, I figured you needed something more challenging."

I was completely confused by this, "That's it?"

Chakwas walked over to Danny and leaned on the table he was laying on, "Well, I also wanted to see how you would affect the game and I have to say. You have made it too easy on Shepard. He is walking through Peak 15 with no problem now. So for your punishment, you get to defend him from and entire army of Saren's men."

"You cold hearted bitch!"

Chakwas just waved me off, "Name calling won't get you anywhere and it certainly won't save your friend."

I gave her the stare down, "What are you talking about?"

Chakwas began walking back to her desk, "Well, if you ever played a game before you would realize that in order to unlock new companions or weapons you have to complete difficult tasks."

My mind raced quickly looking for anything that could give me an edge against the army, "Well, if this is a game. Then, I should get some power that separates me from the inferiors in the game."

"You have always had a power, just look at your armor."

I looked down at it and it glowed with matrix, "What the hell is this?"

Chakwas looked up from her data pad, "Well, you've played prototype before. Same rules as shape shifting apply. Except, it is for games you have played and not for ones you have seen the commercials for."

With those words I was blown by a gust of wind, out of the med-bay and landed on Liara once again. This time her and I were face level and were staring into each other's eyes. I had never noticed till then how blue they had been. Then again, I was a hard core Talimancer so I never paid her much attention.

Again, she spoke first, "Um, Andrew, I don't know if this is a common way for your kind to greet one but..."

I got embarrassed now, "Oh, sorry Liara." I rolled off of her, "I guess I am just getting thrown everywhere today."

I got up and began walking to the airlock but Liara started following me, "Is there any particular reason you are going this way?"

I just kept walking but answered, "Winning the Game."


	6. Upgrades

** WARNING: The character will go superman for *THIS CHAPTER ONLY* it is essential to the plot and will come in later to make it more difficult for him. Trust me; there is a reason for this chapter.**

**Andrew POV:**

I made my way up to the airlock and hit the button. I stepped out and saw that Liara was still following me. I turned to her.

"Liara, you have to stay here."

Liara just crossed her arms, "Why should I. If I can help, I will and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Liara, it's too dangerous. I can't have an inexperienced fighter that will slow me down."

"Then, I better go too. You're going to need some Krogan muscle to back you up", Wrex cut in as he exited the ship.

I knew better than to argue now. I just figured there power would help me balance mine. We left the docking bay and made our way to the garage. When we entered the garage we saw tons of destroyed Geth and wreckage everywhere.

"Well, I guess Shepard had a party without us", Wrex thought out loud.

Liara grabbed my shoulder "Um, Andrew how do you think we can head off the army?"

I thought for a moment, "Well, there is that tank over there that you guys could take."

Liara became confused, "But what about you?"

"Well", I closed my eyes and focused on the armor I had from Halo Reach. I felt my body grow and change. I got taller and I could feel the power I had. I was ready to take on anything. I opened my eyes and saw Liara staring in horror and Wrex with a smile on his face.

"How'd you do that", Wrex yelled over at the tank.

"Same way I made this", I pulled out my omni-blade. "Just didn't know I could until now."

Liara finally spoke, "Just be careful."

Her sentiment caught me by surprise but I gave her a nod and turned to the doors, "Just try to keep up."

The first few steps I took felt slow but I sped up to the point that everything near the edge of my vision became a blur. I was going so fast that the garage door didn't have time to open and I left a Spartan shaped hole in it. I crossed the landscape quickly and with ease. I ran past all the wreckage that was left by Shepard and finally caught up to the army.

I kept running and pulled out my pistol. As I ran I picked up there com chatter thanks to Spartan Intercept tech. I listened in.

"Sir, we have an enemy soldier inbound", I heard one of the soldiers say.

"Let me see, you idiot that's moving too fast to be a foot soldier it has to be a missile or a-"

He was cut off as I jumped forward with both fist extended ripping through the tank they were in. I looked around and saw every tank the enemy had turn and point their cannons at me. Before they could get a beed on me I took off running. The abilities of a Spartan were amplified somehow and I was able to lift tanks and toss them at each other. I had become an unstoppable force.

I ran and ripped off the back of a tank and climbed in. I put three shots into all the soldiers and took the controls. Turning the turret and cannon to the tank next to it I kicked the controls causing the tank to continuously fire. I then jumped out of the tank and was hit by a truck...oh, wait it was a Krogan.

I slid several feet but jumped back to my feet and turned to face him. It was the leader from the bar. He had a claw hammer and a shotgun. He started circling and I did the same. After, the third time we sprinted into the center and collided. I landed a punch that blew through his shields and crushed his head plate. He on the other hand shot me and brought his claw hammer into my side ripping off my midsection armor.

We both stumbled back and he was bleeding profusely. I was just cold due to the lack of armor. He roared and charged. I reached for my gun and everything went into slow motion. I had the pistol in my hand and up putting all the shots I could into the Krogan.

I looked around and saw that I had destroyed the opposition. Then, Liara and Wrex arrived. Wrex proceeded to come out.

"Hey kid, you ready to get to the peak?" I nodded and walked over to get in the tank.

**Tali POV:**

They were pinned down. Shepard had led Tali and Garrus into a trap. Matriarch Benezia had been waiting for them with Asari commandos and Geth rocket troopers. They quickly overwhelmed the trio and forced them into a corner. She and Garrus held the line at their cover but Shepard was beginnig to have trouble at his end.

Finally, Garrus took to many hits and dropped. Now the troops were closing in and were about to over whelm them when there was a pounding at the door behind them. The pounding grew louder and dented in as each hit happened.

The doors finally gave way and flew outward. Passing over Shepard and knocking down all the Geth attacking him. The next thing Tali saw frightened her and intrigued her at the same time. A seven foot tall armored giant walked through the doors. It was white with a silver visor, it gave a whole new meaning to knight in shining armor. Then, it was hit dead on by a rocket.

The metal figure stepped out of the smoke left behind pulling out a pistol dropping three Geth and then ran over to Shepard. He said something to Shepard and then the visor of the metal figure depolarized to reveal Andrew.

_Andrew isn't that tall. _Was what came to mind before she saw Andrew leap into action. He ran up and started fist fighting Geth. Tali realized that she still had Geth on her side and started laying fire down on her side. She fired as accuatly as she could but Geth still began to make it up to her.

Her gun finally overheated and the Geth were right on top of her. It put its rifle to her head but was quickly blown away by a shotgun blast and Tali looked over to see Wrex and Liara entering the room. Liara ran forward and created a singularity near the Geth causing them to lift up while Wrex put them down. Over all this firing, Tali managed to hear Benezia yelling to Shepard. Focused her energy and send a stasis at Andrew.

He froze mid punch and the Geth swung its rifle knocking the frozen soldier on the ground. But Tali switched to her pistol quick enough and shot the Geth down as fast as possible. Andrew unfroze and looked at what had happened.

"Thanks Tali I owe you one."

Tali just replied and it came out more flirtatious than she intended, "Well, you never took me out on that date."

Tali immediately started kicking herself for calling it a date after how much of a fit she threw over him calling it a date. She was so distracted that she didn't relize there was a Geth with a launcher behind her and was preparing to fire. She was near enough to Andrew that he was able to react but not in the way might have wanted to avoid. He jumped in front to the rocket and took it directly in the chest.

Tali turned around and was expecting to see Andrew get up but he didn't and his armor turned back to regular scorpion armor. Looking from Andrew to the Geth, she fired several rounds into the the bastard. Tali finally finished it off and that was the last of Benezia's followers. Tali turned back to Anderw and ran over taking a knee by him.

"Andrew, wake up! Andrew!"

Andrew sat his head up and spoke, "Hey, I didn't know angels wore masks." His head fell back and he was out cold.

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard looked around and saw all Benezia's men we taken out. He also saw that Garrus and Andrew were both out and directed Wrex and Tali to carry them out. He caught Liara giving a worried look at Andrew but saw that her mother was hurt and ran to her.

As Shepard walked up Benezia began to speak, "This is not over. Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."

Shepard just crossed his arms, "the Rachni didn't cooperate with you. Why should I?"

Benezia leaned against her control panel, "Everything is clear. You will...you... you must listen, Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions. Briefly. But the indoctrination is strong."

Shepard wasn't buying it, "So you could turn on me again."

Benezia began to plead, "Yes, but it would not be my will, Shepard. People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him. The key is Soverign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his word pour into you."

"That doesn't explain why your here."

"I came here to find the location of the Mu Relay. I took it from the Rachni Queen. I was not gentle."

"Why would you be looking for the Mu Relay?"

"It is the way to Ilos and the conduit. That is where Saren is going and...and... and you will not stop him Shepard because I will not allow you!"

**Tali POV:**

Tali was with Wrex walking to the tram to take Garrus and Andrew back to the Normandy. Wrex was holding them in the air with his biotics while Tali would guide them. They were about to put Andrew in the tram after finishing with Garrus when he woke up. He sat up fast and grabbed Tali's arm.

"Tali", he was speaking in a voice that worried her, "where's Shepard?"

Tali stuttered but got her answer out, "He..he … he and Liara are speaking with Benezia."

He immediately got up and began running for the door gripping his side as blood spilled out profusely. He managed to get up and run with ease though.

**Andrew POV:**

I had to get to Shepard. It was him and Liara against Asari commandos. No matter how good their gun and biotics are they could never hold off five commandos.

I arrived just in time to see Liara drop to the ground from too many shots and the commandos close in on Shepard. I ran over and put a few shots into the closest one to him, knocking down her barriers allowing Shepard to finish her off with a blast from his shotgun.

I quickly circled the catwalk and met up with Shepard, "So having a party with some girls and you forget to invite me?!"

Shepard flipped around and we went back to back holding off the Asari with sheer gun skill, "I figured more women for me!"

I reached back and took Shepards assault rifle off his back, "I think I'll just have to take this to teach you a lesson!"

Shepard one handed his shotgun and drew his pistol with the other taking down an Asari with the combine might of the two, "Go ahead, her name is Sheila and she's the only girl you'll ever get with!"

I finished the last of the Asari on my side and turned to help Shepard with the ones coming in on his, "Ah, Shepard your breaking my heart."

Shepard finished the last one off with a shotgun blast to her chest, "Not as bad as I did her's."

We scanned the room and didn't see any other hostiles so we split up and within seconds of getting into shooting range we brought Benezia down. I picked up Liara since she was near me and ran to Shepard to have him use his unity power. She got up and they both ran to help Benezia.

They began to speak to her but I didn't care. I had more important matters on my hands. I snuck up to the console and hit the button to release the Rachni. The cage opened and the queen looked at me giving me a nod and then left. I just released her to skip the talking part. After, all it always creeped me out how she spoke through dead bodies.

"Andrew", was the last thing I heard as I turned around to see Tali staring at me and I brought my hand up to wave but saw it covered in blood.

**Tali POV:**

Tali sat outside the med-bay in a cloud of guilt. She had caused Andrew to take a rocket and now he is in the med-bay fighting to stay alive. As she sat outside the door she could hear the instruments in the med bay wirr and sputter as they worked to keep Andrew alive. It was so distracting she didn't even pay any attention to Garrus who kept trying to make conversation with her.

She eventually turned her audio and voice amplification devises off and cried to herself. The worst part however was she didn't know why she was crying. He was a stranger. He just appeared out of nowhere and started saving the day. He had made more friends just in one hour than she had the last two weeks.

He had earned the respect of Garrus by defeating him in a fight. He connected with Liara by allowing her to connect their minds. She could tell Wrex was interested in fighting him after what he did to the army of Saren's men. He had even tried to take her out for drinks and all she did was say yes in the rudest way she could think.

Just when she was deepest in self pity, Liara came in. She was as worried about Andrew as much as Tali. Tali just fully polarized her visor and kept crying.

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard was typing the report on Noveria removing Andrew from the story. If the counsel knew about him and what he did today, things would get a lot more hostile. He finally finished when Ashley came into his room.

"Well skipper, you know how the kid is doing?", she asked trying to get him away from the computer.

Shepard just glued his eyes to the screen, "I couldn't see him. Chakwas said she needed a sterile environment for his surgery."

Ashley walked over and sat across Shepard's lap, forcing him to pay attention to her, "It's a shame that this had to happen to him. After all, from what Garrus told me, he is like a runaway train on the battle field. He won't stop for anything."

Shepard laughed, "You could say that. Unfortunately now he's being picked apart for potecting someone who didn't even pay him much attention."

Ashley looked away playfully, "Yeah, I can't think of anyone who would throw their life in the way for someone they barely knew."

Shepard just spun her around and gave her a kiss. One that she was ready for and he knew it.

**Andrew POV:**

I woke up to the sound of moving equipment and whirling machines. I looked over to see Chakwas at her desk. She looked up at me and hit a switch that turned the equipment off and walked over to me. I looked away from her to Danny. Now was the time to wake him up.

"You did very well today Ty."

I looked over at Chakwas, "My name is Andrew in this world universe."

Chakwas rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Enough of the mystery Ty. That is your name and it doesn't matter where you are. That is your name."

I just glared at her, "Whatever, so why did the Spartan armor fail?"

"Strait to the point. Well, in other games, you see, whenever someone uses a power that makes them godlike it has a time cap or use cap. That is what I put on your power."

I just rolled my eyes, "Thanks for telling me sooner."

Chakwas smiled suddenly, "Well, I guess it's time for your reward."

"What reward", I heard a groan behind me and saw Danny waking up.


	7. You, me, and a bottle of brandy

**Andrew/Ty:**

I had to say I was a little jealous of Danny. He had been in Mass Effect for an hour or at least awake for an hour and had gotten his power down already. Chakwas had given him control over weaponry. He kept changing my pistol into a chainsword, then to a M4, to buster sword, and finally a Spartan laser.

I finally had enough, "Are you about finished?"

"Depends", he morphed it into a lancer, "can you handle the chainsaw?"

I grabbed it away from him, "That's enough. Wait, how the hell do I get my pistol back?"

Chakwas was just standing in a corner getting more and more annoyed with how easily Danny was taking the transition, "I told you. I put your powers on a timer. Until it turns back you can just store it in your armors sniper holster, god knows it won't fit the assault rifle holster."

I just raised it in the air and took a look at it, "Well, while I have it." I took the gun and pulled the cord and starting the saw. "Yeah, this bitch has some power to it."

Danny made a reach for it but I pulled it away, "Dude, I made it."

I just stored it on my back, "Yeah, from my weapon."

I gave Danny a look that made ghost riders stare seem like looking at a carebear stare, "If you want one buy your own."

Danny pulled up his omni-tool, "I don't want too."

"Why, because you have no money?"

"No that's not it. I don't want to talk about it."

"Are you scared to walk around a ship with aliens on it?"

"It's because the last Shepard I played as was named Caitie. Okay."

I busted out laughing, "You kidding me. Your IFF reads your name is Caitie Shepard?"

Danny's cheeks lit up red, "yes, and it says I'm a woman.

I stared laughing so hard I couldn't speak. Chakwas on the other had came over and started messing with Danny's omni-tool.

"There, it will read that you are a man. But I can't change your name from Caitie."

I just kept laughing. I couldn't count how many times I had suggested he play through as a guy but he just continued to brush me off. Now it came back to bite him in the ass and it was glorious.

**Danny:**

_That son of a bitch!_ Was all Danny could think as Ty kept laughing at him. It just continued to piss him off that he and his best friend got stuck in his favorite game but his friend still treated it like a game. _This is real now and everyone in it was real._ That's when Danny got a mischievous plan.

He turned to Chakwas, "So, are we confined to regular game parameters?"

Chakwas just smiled, "Anything can happen."

"Would that include romance then? Are we stuck with Ashley or Liara?"

Chakwas walked back to her desk, "Like I said anything can happen."

He turned to Ty, "Well, I guess you can live out your dream to be in a relationship wuth Tali."

Ty's face lit up and there was a fire in his eyes, "It is not my dream to be with Tali."

"'Oh, c'mon Ty. We both know that you've been a Talimancer since the first game came out."

"I'm not a Talimancer!" As soon as Danny got Ty to say it, the doors opened revealing Tali holding a six-pack and a bottle of brandy.

**Tali:**

Tali had gotten tired of waiting so she went down to do some work on the engine. That made time seem to drag on. Eventually, she ran to Garrus and asked him for some alcohol.

"Why would you need those, Tali? You aren't drinking because you feel bad about Andrew, are you?"

Tali shook her head and had a big smile excited for what she was about to do, "I am going to have some drinks with him for saving me. After all, it's what humans do for someone there in debt to."

Garrus nodded his head, "Okay, here", he pulled a six-pack from the storage compartment of the Mako. "Just remember, he's levo not dextro. Oh, and don't breath a word about my hiding place to Shepard."

Tali nodded, "Your secret is safe with me."

She then took the elevator up and found Kaiden. He was rubbing his temples and working on his computer. Tali could tell from his posture and body language that he was having a migraine. She decided to just ask and not annoy him too much.

"Um excuse me", Tali decided to go with the innocent little girl act, "would it be alright if I got some levo alcohol from you, Kaiden?"

Kaiden looked up from his console and reached under it. He pulled out a bottle of brandy, "This is my last bottle of brandy, could you pick me up some when we are at the citadel?"

Tali gave a nod and lifted her head to see the bottle flying toward her. Her hand shot up and pulled it out of the air. She looked at it then to Kaiden who started walking to his sleep pod, rubbing his temples.

Tali went over to the med-bay door and began to here speaking behind it. There was Chakwas, Andrew, a third voice she didn't recognize, and someone named Ty. She eventually leaned in too close and activated the door.

As it opened she herd Andrew yell something about mancer and that's all she caught. From what she saw when everyone turned their heads was a look of confusion. She looked at Andrew, to Chakwas, and to Andrew's friend.

Andrew was the first to speak, "Hey Tali, what brings you to the Med-bay? Besides heavy drinking", He gestured to the alcohol.

Tali began to stutter, "Well...I...I ….I thought Ty and I could go for drinks because he saved my life."

She looked to Andrew's friend who was smiling bigger then when she came in. Then, she looked at Andrew whose head was sunk so low that it was past his shoulders. Tali became scared that she was intruding.

"Um, we don't have to. I can just leave and-"

Andrew suddenly got back to his regular posture, "No, I want to. However, I need to take a shower first. Can you wait like ten minutes? Five if Liara comes in again."

Andrew's friend just started laughing, "What's wrong Andrew, not ready for your date?"

Andrew turned to his friend, "My mistake, Tali, I'd like to introduce you to my best friend", Andrew got a smile on his face, "Caitie."

Caitie's face went from a smile to a deep scowl. He looked over at Andrew. Andrew took off past Tali toward the elevator with Caitie on his tail.

**Andrew POV:**

I barely made it to the elevator just before Danny caught me. I hit the button and kept running. The elevator closed and went down. I ran around the corner and hid. Danny waited for the elevator to come back up and took it down. I walked over to the showers hoping that I could get clean before someone showed up.

I walked in and put my powers to a test. I transformed my armor into swim trunks. This way it's less awkward if someone comes in. So I just washed up and got out. Just as I did my armor changed back. Now I was headed to the Engine room. I got there and saw that no one else was.

Then, Tali spoke from behind me, "I figured we could just drink in here. After all, nobody is on duty currently."

I turned around to her, "Sounds good to me."

She sat down on the ground and I did the same. She handed me the bottle and pulled one of her's off the six-pack. She raised her can and I raised my bottle. Now I just had to be careful not to give away any important information.

**Danny:**

Danny got to the last floor on the elevator and realized he had been duped. He looked and saw everyone going about their business. He looked around again and saw Garrus calmly working away at his terminal and decided it was time to troll.

Danny approached calmly and began to speak, "Hello, Turian I've never met before. Can you help me?"

Garrus looked back and saw Danny, "Ah, you must be Andrew's friend. Well, I'm sorry", he looked down at his omni-tool, "Caitie, but I'm in the middle of some calibrations."

Danny wanted to do two things at that moment. One, he wanted to bust out laughing because he got Garrus to give him the whole calibration line. Two, he wanted to yell as loud as he could that his name wasn't Caitie.

He went against his own will, "Heh, yeah that is a mess up on my omni-tool. My real name is Danny."

"Oh", Garrus coughed a little, "well, I did think that it was odd for a human male to be named a feminine name."

Danny's fists clenched, "Yeah, I have to go." He turned and walked away heading to Ashley, feeling he would have better conversation with her then Garrus. She immediately gave him the cold shoulder, before he even said anything.

Danny began to say something but was distracted by the weapons on the table. He walked over and reached for the sniper rifle. It fit in his hand like a glove. Then he activated the scope and it adjusted to its surroundings. He then proceeded to put it on his back but had it yanked away by Ashley.

"What are you doing ensign? Wait you're not even an ensign, who the hell are you?"

Danny was so stunned by the sudden hostility that he didn't make a sound. Ashley immediately began yelling at him but Danny stayed quiet. Ashley finally got so angry that she pulled her fist back to hit him in the face when Danny spoke.

"You have beautiful eyes." _Mental facepalm!_

Ashley's fist paused but still carried through slamming into Danny's face. He took the blow and remained standing. Danny brought his hand up to his jaw. He felt like his brain was bouncing around like a Mexican jumping bean.

"Fuck that hurt. Why did you hit me?"

Ashley just sat and stared at him for a moment, "That should have knocked you out."

"Well, I'm a user. That means I am like a god in here. Another thing, if you hit me again you'll find yourself a stuffed teddy bear!"

Ashley just crossed her arms, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Danny picked up a weapon off the table and turned it into a bolter, "I'm keeping this." With that, Danny turned and left. Leaving Ashley in the dark about what she just saw.

**Tali:**

Tali sat there and had gotten Andrew pretty drunk. He had almost finished the bottle of brandy while she was still on her first can. Andrew had given away some information in the beginning but it was all about his friend. She really wanted to know who he was.

"So Andrew how's the brand?."

Andrew scowled and blinked several times and got back his ever present smile, "I like it. Although it isn't as strong as the ryncol I had earlier."

Tali hesitated, "You had ryncol? When?"

Andrew hiccupped and then spoke, "Right before I left to save you guys."

"You were drunk when you came to the rescue", Tali replied flatly.

"No way. Chakwas gave me a shot to the neck of something and it really got me moving. Man Tali, you are so beautiful."

The last comment caught Tali by surprise. She defiantly was not expecting it. Figuring that she could just play it off like it didn't happen. Tali kept grilling him.

"Okay, so who is Ty. I heard you and your friend talking about him?"

"You mean Danny and I. Well, I am Ty."

Tali was confused by this and felt she was taking a detour, "You are Ty?"

Andrew just began to talk like he had been bottling something up for a while, "Well, Andrew was a cousin of mine who died in an accident. Anyway, everyone called him a hero for how he lived and helped people. So, I figured that if I was going to be a hero, I would need a hero's name."

"And what is wrong with your regular name?"

"I don't know, I just thing. Look in the bible, there are no chapters named after someone named Ty. There is no Ty in the Iliad or the Odyssey. Hell, even in the day en age I lived in I never read a book where the hero was named Ty."

"So, you abandoned your name because it didn't sound heroic?"

"Yeah, I know, it's childish. But it is also a way to have my cousin with me at all times too. A real hero." After that Andrew or Ty just hung his head and didn't say anything. Tali was afraid she had pressed to hard so she began to think of something to cheer him up.

"Y'know, I didn't see your dead cousin when I had a rocket launcher aimed at me." Ty's head began to raise a little bit, "I think you are a hero. Maybe nobody in your universe ever told you but in this one. I am."

Ty did something that seemed right at the moment. He put his right arm around Tali's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. She just did what she thought felt natural and wrapped her arms around him laying her head on his shoulder. They sat there for a few minutes. Tali looked up and saw his eyes were a cloudy blue with a light behind it. Then, Tali realized what she was doing and pushed away from him.

He looked at her in confusion but Tali thought quick and raised her can, "To Andrew, may his heroic spirit help you be a hero yourself."

Ty smiled and raised his bottle to that. Then, they both took long drinks and Tali finished her can in time to see Ty finish chugging the rest of the bottle. He then fell backwards and passed out. Tali was happy she was able to help him but then it hit her. She had to get him to his area for bed.


	8. Blue is addicting

**Andrew POV:**

I woke up with a huge hangover. I just opened my eyes and saw the lights above me and immediately shut them. Everything was too bright. I made a grunting noise to see if anyone was around. I was rewarded with the voice of Shepard.

"What's wrong Andrew. Don't tell me my creator can't handle a few drinks."

I flipped him the bird and replied, "Can you please shut the lights off?"

I herd Shepard laugh before replying, "Nope, I need to see around my cabin."

At that I activated my helmet installed on my armor and turned it into sunglasses, "How the hell did I get here?"

"Tali was kind enough to carry you up here."

"How did she? I must way a ton and she is like a twig."

"Quarians. They have powerful legs."

"Yeah, well I'd like to see those legs in action."

Then, a voice from across the room cut in, "Yeah, what did I tell you Shepard. He is into Tali big time."

I raised my head up and saw Danny, "Uuuggg, I was hoping you were thrown out the airlock by Wrex."

Danny just smiled, "No way, the big guy loves me. Says his pistol is mine anytime I need to change a weapon. So long as its bad ass enough for him to keep."

Shepard just got in between us and spoke, "Okay, you need to speak and tell me what's going to happen on Feros."

I threw my head back, "No."

"What was that?"

"No. I fucked up big time by telling you about Noveria. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"How did you fuck up?"

"The game AI has a problem with me making things easy."

"What are you talking about?"

"Shepard, I told you before. This is a video game. The reason Danny and I can manipulate weapons and armor is because we can rewrite the code that makes it."

Shepard just crossed his arms, "That is bull. This is real and I am real. You can't just-"

"Shepard! I'm not going to waist my time trying to convince someone they are a work of fiction. It is just time consuming and the person will make it as hard as possible. Especially if they are as stubborn as you."

Shepard just turned and walked out of the room. I looked around and saw it was brighter than usual and turned to Danny.

"Hey, Shepard's room doesn't look like a night club anymore."

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard walked out and to the elevator with Andrew's last words still ringing in his ears. Everything was in question. _Is life worth it? Could they be telling the truth? Why do I hear artificial breathing?_

Shepard looked behind him and saw Tali in the other corner of the elevator waiting for it to reach the engine room floor. She seemed to be in a trance and didn't pay him any attention. Shepard didn't feel like spending the whole elevator ride in science so he made a coughing sound and caught Tali's attention.

"Oh, hello Shepard. How's it going?"

Shepard just smiled at how childish Tali was, "It's good Tali, but I have to ask. How was the day dreaming?"

Tali made a hand washing motion like when she did when she was nervous, "Um, well, I actually was wondering something. I was going to as Garrus or Wrex-"

"Your going to ask Wrex for advice?"

"I was going to ask Garrus or Gunnery Chief Williams but maybe you could answer my question."

"Maybe, what is it?"

"Well, there is a guy and-"

"Woe, Tali I am not the best person for relationship advice."

Tali just lowered her head, "Oh okay, maybe I can ask someone else."

Shepard bit his lip. He must have sounded like an ass hole to the girl. On the other hand, however, he wasn't the one for this kind of advice. After all, none of his relationships worked out till now.

As soon as the door opened, Shepard made his way to Ashley. He crept up and looked at what Ash was working on. He saw a huge beast of a weapon. With a spike belt at the bottom.

"Uh Ash, what the hell is that?"

Ashley looked away from her console to Shepard then back, "It's Andrew's new weapon. Apparently his friend made it from his pistol."

"They got that from a pistol?"

"Yeah, hard to believe I know. It has some weird readings though."

"What you mean like radiation?"

"No, I mean in stopping power. One bullet is powerful enough to cut down your barriers and still carry through your skull."

"That's...frightening."

"You bet it is."

**Tali POV:**

Tali began walking toward Garrus when Shepard cut her off. He was making a bee line for Staff Sargent Williams. Tali noticed how his shoulders broadened and gave a look of a hero as she turned to him. She looked away from them and to Garrus. He was hunched over his console typing something in.

"Um, hello Garrus."

Garrus looked back at her, "Hey Tali, enjoying your break?"

"Um yeah but I have a question."

"Hhmm, well speak up and ask."

Tali took a deep breath, "Okay, so there is a guy I like and I don't know if he likes me back. On the other hand, this other guy likes me and I think I like him back. My question is, should I go with guy number one and wait or go for guy number two and get the sure thing?"

Garrus immediately, "Shepard is taken by Williams over there. So, go with Andrew. He's a nice guy after all."

Tali just stared at him, "How did you know?"

Garrus turned back to his terminal, "When every female on a ship is swooning over one man, it's easy to notice when one goes a different route."

Tali nodded and walked away. Now, she had a bounce in her step and a bigger smile then ever before. It wasn't the fact that she liked either guy more. It was because she had closure. She was no longer in a constant debate.

She hopped in the elevator and hit up to go speak to Andrew. The elevator went up and she took off to Shepard's room. She entered to see Liara holding a kiss with Andrew.

**Danny POV:**

Danny sat until Shepard left before getting up, "Well. I have to go."

Ty just looked up and him with a pain look in his eyes, "Could you turn the lights down please?"

Danny just smiled back, "Nope, I have other stuff to do." He left the room to do the thing he had been wanting to do since the game came out. He was going to troll Joker.

Danny got to the top of the stairs and made his way to the front of the ship. He saw Joker sitting and working on the consoles. He looked like he was on autopilot. Danny made his move.

Danny looked around acting like he couldn't see Joker, "Wow, this ship is amazing. The autopilot sure can drive too."

Joker turned around, "Auto pilot? I am the ships pilot. I am the one giving us this smooth ride."

Danny just looked at him, "The mediocre pilot thinks he's the Red Barron."

Joker began to get angry, "mediocre? I graduated top of my class. I am the best in the Alliance Navy."

"Cool story bro. Tell another."

"Do I also have to mention that I have a disease that makes my bones brittle as glass?"

"Oh, is that how we get out of work and sit in a chair? Because I have that disease too."

"God, you dumbass."

"I am not a stupid donkey, thank you very much."

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me."

"No, I am neither fucking or kidding you."

"Oh, my god get the fuck out."

"I'll gtfo if you gutmooh."

"What?"

"Get up and throw me out."

Joker started cussing up a storm. Danny got a huge smile on his face and began to walk away. Before he could get to far he heard some ruffling and he turned to see Joker getting ready to chuck a data pad at him.

Everything went into slow motion. The data pad left Joker's hand and flew towards Danny. Danny reached down and drew his pistol. There were thee places he wanted to shoot on the data pad and he drew his bolt pistol fast.

Danny popped off three shots really quick and caused the data pad to land harmlessly on the ground. Danny looked at Joker and saw his mouth hanging wide open. He holstered his pistol and began to walk away while Joker spoke.

"How'd you do that?"

"Magic."

**Andrew POV:**

I was forced to get up after Danny left to turn off the lights. The whole time wishing EDI was in the ship so I could have her turn them down. I got there, turned the lights down, and laid back down. It was peaceful for a few minutes until I herd gunshots and got up because something in the back of my mind told me it was Danny.

I got to the door and opened it up and saw Liara looking like she was about to knock, "Oh sorry Liara. Were you looking for Shepard?"

Liara looked at me, "Um, no I was looking for you."

"Oh about what?"

Liara took a few steps inside and the door closed, "On Noveria. I never got the chance to properly thank you for saving me."

"It's no problem. It was actually me saving us."

"Yes, well, I still wanted to show my appreciation."

"Okay, how would you do that?"

Liara put a hand on my chest and her eyes glowed in the pale light, "Would you please close your eyes?"

I hadn't drank in enough of her image yet but I did it. Her lips met mine in a joining of utter bliss. I opened my eyes to see not the confines of the Normandy but the entire galaxy before me. I was there holing Liara close. I force my tongue into her mouth and she met mine with her's. We just lapped over one another. I noticed how her mouth had a sweetness to it that made me want even more.

Then, the doors opened.


	9. We go to see a whore, I mean Consort

**Ty POV:**

I looked over Liara's shoulder and saw Tali staring at us. She quickly turned around and began walking to the elevator. I tried to reach her her but she made it first and hit the button to go down. I had to wait till the cart got back up to take it down.

I got out and saw everyone standing around as usual. I thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that Tali was in the engine room. I ran through the right side doors and saw her take her place at the computer,

I crept up slowly and began talking, "Hey Tali, is something wrong?"

Tali just spoke sarcastically, "No nothing is wrong. Oh and I see you find blue attractive"

"What Liara? She was just thanking me for saving her. Why does it matter anyway."

Tali turned to me, "I was just thinking something and saw I made the wrong choice."

I didn't know where she was headed with this so I just acted stupid, "What choice?"

"God Andrew, do you even remember what happened last night?"

I thought for a moment but nothing came to mind, "No I don't believe I do. That was a lot of brandy after all."

Tali sighed and turned back to her computer, "What is the point of this talk then. You obviously can't remember something important so why should I dwell on it."

That was when it hit me. The distance, the accusations, and the anger all pointed to one thing. "Tali, do you like me?"

Tali straitened for a moment but relaxed again, "Lets not talk about this Ty."

I smiled a little bit, "It sounds nice when you use my real name."

Tali reached down and clutched the metal bracing, "Look Andrew, it wouldn't be a good idea even if I did like you in that way. After all, we couldn't do what you and Liara were just moments ago."

I grabbed her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes with a smile on my face. She reached a hand up and just petted my cheek. We sat there for a few moments until Joker came over the intercom.

"Attention ship personnel. We will be arriving at the Citadel in a few minutes. Shore leave will last for six hours."

I knew there was one thing that had to be done, "Tali, I think while we are at the Citadel I'll need to visit the consort."

Tali grabbed my arm, "Why?"

I smiled even bigger, "I need some advice."

**Danny POV: **

Danny waited by the airlock as Ty or Andrew, what ever the fuck he was calling himself, made his way up. It took a full five minutes for him to come after they had docked. Finally, Danny saw him clear the doors with Tali behind him.

Danny waved him over, "Hey, what is up with bringing Tali?"

Andrew shrugged, "I thought she would like to come with us."

Danny smiled and walked over to shake Tali's hand, "Sorry, I didn't get to introduce me last time."

Tali perked up, "Oh, I remember your name. Caitie, right?"

Danny gritted his teeth, "No, it's Danny actually. I have been...Andrew's friend since preschool."

Tali nodded, "Oh, okay, is that a long time?"

Danny held in a laugh, "For us its a long time."

"Okay, can we go? I need some new equipment", Andrew cut in.

The trio left the airlock and headed to the C-sec Academy. From there they went to the Presidium. Danny was able to buy some Liberator armor there.

"Liberator armor, really?"

"You know it Andrew. After all, everyone calls me golden boy."

"No, no they don't."

From there they just meandered around looking at different stores and getting new equipment. Andrew bought himself a new stiletto heavy pistol. Tali got the next level up for her shotgun. Danny bought four cases of alcohol and had already drank half a case by the time they arrived at the Consort's building entrance.

**Tali POV:**

Tali didn't know how a human could drink so much alcohol. She had seen Danny contently opening up another can. He kept offering Ty a drink but he never accepted, probably from still being on a hangover from last night.

It was different being with the two of them verses being with Shepard and the others. They had been friends for quiet a while, Shepard's men only met about a week ago. Danny and Ty knew come backs to anything the other said.

When they eventually reached the entrance to the Consort's building all Danny was talking about was something he called mind sex. Ty on the other hand was focused on just one question that he wouldn't tell anyone. Tali wanted to ask a question to but she was scared as hell to do it.

They entered and Ty walked up to the asari at the front desk, "We are here to see the consort."

The asari smiled and looked down at the panel, "Okay, we can scheduled you in at 4:00 pm Tuesday the thirty-first of April."

Ty just stepped back, "That's in six months! Shepard was told it was in four."

The asari just kept smiling, "Yes, that was a few days have gotten much more appointments since then."

Ty stepped around the podium, "Can I see that?" He put his hand to the controls and it flashed a green matrix. "There, check it now."

The asari looked at it, "Okay, your appointment is right now. Enjoy."

They walked past the asari and Tali got close to Ty and whispered, "How did you do that?"

Ty smiled mischievously and whispered back, "She is a dumb AI. Her processing can only handle what is in front of her. So I just rewrote the code on the panel in front of her and pushed everyone back an hour. Then, I inserted our names in first."

"Oh, okay..." Tali had no idea what he was talking about. He treated it as if she and the world around her was a computer. Next, she thought about the green matrix code. She had only seen that once before and that was when he created the omni-blade. It all just confused her even more.

Finally, they got to the door and looked at each other. Ty looked to Danny, they both glared at each other for a moment then Danny took off to run in but tripped over a small combat drone as Ty entered the Consort's office.

**Ty POV:**

I walked into the Consort's room about to laugh with the stunt I had pulled on Danny. He was so drunk he didn't notice a glowing, moving, and sputtering drone fly from behind me to his side. I almost felt bad about him landing on his face. Almost.

The asari turned and looked at me as I came down the steps into her room, "Hello, Ty How is my universe for you."

I was caught off guard, "You know I am not from here?"

The asari just nodded with a smile on her face, "I am another part of the games true AI. Chakwas is the controller and I am the director."

I was completely out of it, "Okay, in English."

The asari brought her wrist up and laughed into it, "It means I am supposed to give you advice to compete with the controller."

I walked up to her until I was about a foot away, "How will you do that?"

Her eyes closed and opened completely black and the world around me faded. I was in complete black and even the air stopped in this dark. Then I began to glow.

"You see Ty. I know you have saved many universes in your time. There was Halo and Gears of War. Dragon age and Final Fantasy. Jack and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank. With each of these universe you have created a peace but now you find yourself in a difficult situation."

"Yeah, I am stuck in science fiction."

"No, in this world, it is science fact. The situation is, you can no longer get a do-over if you loose. You will have to do everything right the first time. Every time."

"May I ask one question."

"Speak."

"How can I win?"

Lights began to swirl around me and formed the Milky Way Galaxy. The vision then zoomed down to a planet. Earth, it was on fire and the Reapers were storming it. The vision continued to zoom until it showed me on a hill. Ravengers, Marauders and Cannibals circled it and were making their way up to me. I sat on the hill, with a limp form laying in my arms. My eyes were closed and tears were running down my face. Then, they opened and two green lights flashed brightly behind them.

"What was that?"

"Sacrifice and reward."

The black went light and my eyes opened to see my friends in front of me staring.

**Danny POV:**

Ty walked in and Danny got up and saw he had spilled his last drink. He let out a huff and sat agianst the wall. Tali huddled in a corner and just stood there. She kept looking at Danny repeatedly and making like she was about to say something but decided agianst it. Danny was tired of the show she was putting on and spoke.

"Look, I'm completely hosed and there is no possible way you could make a bad impression on me right now. Ask away."

Tali thought for a moment and spoke, "How do you know Ty?"

Danny thought for a moment and laughed as he remembered their first meeting, "It was the first day of pre-school and I was just arriving. I walked in and my mom pushed me to go play. Well, I saw the space toys and began making a space ship. Ty came along and wanted to play with me. We started our space odyssey there. Every day after that we played with the ships until our teacher changed the toys we had. We were bummed but we still kept talking about space. Eventually, we planned out this whole way we were going to get a rocket ship and go to distant worlds."

"What happened?"

"We were five and making plans to steal an NASA space shuttle. What do you think happened?"

"You were arrested and put in the brig."

Danny just gave Tali a look that said du fuck, "No, we took a nap during class and forgot all about it. Anyway, we graduated and went to different elementary schools. We didn't meet up again until sixth grade, we were still friends after all that time."

"So, you still go to school together?"

Danny just smiled about the reminiscing, "No, I got a scholarship to George Washington University. Ty is going to the University of Idaho. The only reason we are here is because it's summer and we both returned to our home town."

"Oh, can I ask just one more question?"

"You just did."

"I mean one more about your home."

"Sure."

"Who's George Washington and why does he have a school named after him?"

"Well, he's a-"

Danny was cut off when Ty walked out of the room with a blank look on his face and his eyes were closed. He blinked twice and jumped at the site of him and Tali. Danny just gave a smile and ran past Ty yelling mind sex.

Danny got in and saw the asari laying provocatively on a couch. She brought up her finger and made a motion for Danny to come forward. He got close to the asari and she grabbed his head and brought him in close. She put her lips to Danny's ear and whispered two words.

"Embrace Eternity."

**Tali POV:**

Ty looked like he was trying to stay awake as he came out and just threw himself on the waiting couch. His eyes moved but not in a way you would see a regular human. His were more jerky and dragged across as he moved them. Tali was a little worried but decided to let him sort this out.

The door opened yet again to show a Danny with the biggest smile on his face. He walked out and tapped Tali's shoulder, "Your up sparks."

Tali just waked past him, "I swear, I am going to hurt the guy who gave me that nickname when I see him."

Tali walked in and saw the Consort sitting in her chair. She directed Tali to sit next to her. Tali took her seat and the asari spoke.

"What is your question?"

Tali took a deep breath, "What are Ty and Danny?"

The asari sat back and smiled to herself, "If I had to compare them to anything it would be gods. They have the power to manipulate anything in this world and change it for their own purpose."

Tali just stared at the asari, "They are gods?"

The consort nodded, "Yes, they have the power to do anything. They are the same as the creators of this universe."

Tali thought for a moment, "Can gods love?"


	10. We hit the Skyrim and caused Mass Effect

**Ty POV:**

My eyes finally aligned and I was able to see Danny sitting across from me. He had the stupidest smile and was looking up remembering something. I had a pain in my head and couldn't think strait.

"What are you so happy about?"

Danny looked at me and just mouthed the words, mind sex. I saw that and hated the thought of it. Every time I had let an asari join our minds I ended up with the short end of the stick. I needed to talk to Chakwas about it.

"Hey, I'll meet you guys at the Normandy. I have got the worst head ache."

Danny just nodded as I left. I walked out of the Consort's place and headed across the bridge. I made my way across and headed down to the elevator. My head just started to clear when the pain came back even stronger.

I dropped to the ground and my hands lit up green. Then, cybernetic veins stretched from my hands to the hologram of Avina. They took over the hologram and it began to morph. It changed onto a Khajiit.

I looked and recognized it, "Baldar"

The Khajiit looked at me and pulled out his bow. He drew an arrow and loosed it before I could react. I dodged it and reached back for my lancer. I pulled it out and took aim. He was just gone.

I felt an arrow rip through my shoulder. I turned around and was met with him yelling Foos Ro Dah.

**Danny POV:**

Danny and Tali exited the Consort's offices with multiple feelings. Danny felt like his beer was going to come back up on him. Tali seemed giddy and excited. They left and were headed across the bridge when they saw an explosion of dust by the elevator. Then, Ty went flying out propelled by an unrelenting force.

Tali gasped, "What was that?"

Danny began running, "I think that was Ty."

Danny ran to the edge and jumped over. He landed and saw Ty laying on his stomach. Danny quickly ran over and turned Ty over. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Ty had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Danny stared at it until he herd a growl. He flipped around to see a Khajiit holding his bow trained on Ty.

Just as he was about to loose it, he was hit by a shotgun blast from Tali, "Get away from my boyfriend!"

Ty heard and raised his head, "Your what?"

Before Tali could answer, Baldar was up and sprinting toward them. Danny looked at Ty. They both nodded and began. Danny transformed his bolt pistol into the Call of Duty: Thunder Cannon. Ty jumped forward and changed so he had the armor of Hayden from Dark sector.

Danny ran off to get to the top of the bridge for a better shot while Ty got in close to fight Baldar. Unfortunately, Ty forgot that Khajiit were skilled hand to hand specialists and ended up getting clawed across the face. Tali, pulled out her pistol giving Ty time to put distance between him and Baldar.

Baldar began firing arrows left and right trying to hit some one. Danny had no Idea what was going on and yelled over to Ty.

"Hey, what's up with the Khajiit?"

Ty pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and yelled over to Danny, "I don't know, I was walking back to the elevator he just-"

"No, I mean why is he using arrows?"

"Oh, remember when I first got Skyrim. You said that Khajiit couldn't be archers. Well, he's a Khajiit archer."

"You son of a bitch!" Baldar jumped up to the bridge and readied and arrow to fire at Danny. Danny wirled around and aimed his cannon. He fired sending Baldar flying across the Presidium.

"Foos Ro Dah bitch!"

**Tali POV:**

Tali ran over to Ty, he was different with his silver arm. She wanted to ask him if he was all right but he ran past her to the bridge. She followed as fast as she could till they finally caught up to Baldar. He was laying on the ground below the Krogan statue in the presidium.

Ty was bent over him and Danny was just getting there, "Did you see that. I totally fucked his day and came up with a one liner to go with it."

Ty paid no attention to either of them. He was more focused on Baldar. He reached his hand up and put it to the giant cats head and focused for a moment. Then, he opened his eyes and stood.

"Danny, we need to go speak to Chakwas."

Danny shook his head in agreement, "Yeah, and I need a nap."

Tali was confused, "Why, what would she know about this?"

Ty hesitated for a moment but quickly caught himself, "Uh, that arrow I took to the shoulder really hurt me. I think I should have Chakwas check it out."

Danny cut in again, "I really need a nap."

Tali wasn't convinced, "Okay..."

They made there way to the elevator where the traveled to c-sec. On the way Danny tapped Ty on the shoulder and pointed to his omni-tool. Ty got a big smile on his face and gave a nod yes. Danny hit a button and Tali's audio receptors picked up a form of music. It sung about the younger generation and how they are born in a world that is falling apart.

The music took her back to the flotilla. She thought of how each generation was worse off in their salvage ships then the last. She thought of how unless they stand against the geth, there will be no quarians. She thought of how her pilgrimage went down hill for a few months and took a complete ninety degree turn when she met Shepard. She thought of how she had been falling apart until she met Ty.

She thought of all these things while her body took on a sort of auto pilot. She came out of it when she herd the ship VI announce that the three of them had entered the Normandy. Danny quickly took off and headed for Chakwas' office. He called to Ty but he waved Danny off. Tali felt a surge of joy when Ty turned to her and gave her a hug. Ty looked down at her and said something but Tali was too mesmerized to hear it.

He took off for the Med-bay while Tali just stood there watching him walk away. It wasn't until he was at the door that she realized that he hadn't changed back into his original armor. He was still in the armor from his fight with Baldar but something was different. It was like it was growing around him.

**Ty POV:**

I walked down the stairs to Chakwas office. Danny had beat me and I had told Tali I would see her down in engineering later.

The doors opened and both Danny and Chakwas turned and stared at me, "What"

Danny was the first to speak, "Um, Ty it has been past ten minutes and you aren't changing back."

I looked down and saw I still had my Dark sector armor on, "Yeah so?"

Chakwas was the next to speak, "I put your powers on a ten minute time limit. Like I put Danny's on a stamina basis. You shouldn't be able to go past ten minutes."

I thought for a moment, "Well, maybe I am growing in power and I can last longer every time I do it?"

Chakwas just shook her head no and started to stare. I looked down and gasped myself. I saw the armor was growing into corrupt armor. It was slowly consuming me.

"Chakwas, what the fuck is happening."

Chakwas ran over to her computer console, "I don't know, you have done something I never anticipated."

I walked over and grabbed Chakwas by the shoulders, "What, the hell, did I do?"

Chakwas looked at her computer screen then to me, "You used a living organism as armor. The technocyte as I believe it is called, will grow around you until it overtakes you. Now, since we are in a different game, it won't have as much of an effect on you. Right now, the only thing I can see it doing is latching you in."

"Which means?"

"You won't be able to use your powers as long as that thing is on you."

Danny just put his hand on my shoulder. My arm reacted violently and it created the glaive.

"Oh, fuck this isn't happening. Uh, how did he get it off in the game?"

Danny's eyes just widened and he shook his head no. I needed to think of a way to get it off.

I thought for a moment then remembered Baldar, "Chakwas, what's up with the Khajiit that attacked us in the Citadel?"

Chakwas gave a smirk, "I needed to find an enemy that you would have trouble beating. I figured the Irony behind it would be laughable as well."

I just shook my head, "Okay well how did you do it?"

"I really have to give myself credit for this one. I needed to search you hard drive to find games you have played. When you melded with that asari your mind rejected it treating her invasion like an infection."

"Wait so my mind doesn't perceive this as real?"

"No you don't. Not just your mind. Unlike Danny here, you see this as data and algorithms. He sees this as a real world."

Danny thought for a moment, "Is that a good thing or a bad-"

Just then Joker announced that all team members need to report to the conference room. Danny just put his arm around me and we both started up the stairs. I knew he was freaking out because whenever he stops talking and just acts he is in a panic.

"Well, lets show Shepard my new gear."

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard sat in his chair waiting for the rest of the team to show. He had Ash and Wrex already there from their time on the Citadel. Tali, Danny and Ty were the first to enter. Shepard took one look at Andrew and gasped.

"What happened to you?"

Andrew just shrugged, "Tell you later."

Shepard nodded and looked down at his data pad, "Okay, take your seats."

"Uh, Shepard?"

"Yes, Andrew."

"Okay first, call me Ty. I feel it's time you call me by me real name. Second, Where do me and Danny sit?"

Shepard looked up from his data pad and saw he didn't have chairs for Ty and Danny. He made a mental note to get that fixed after the meeting.

"Uh, just stand by the guard rail. I'll have some chairs brought in later."

Finally, Garrus, Liara, and Alenko arrived and took their seats, "Okay, I need to debrief on last mission. I would have earlier but we had several medical cases that came out looking worse than when they came in." Shepard looked over to Ty and Danny who were simultaneously flipping him the bird.

Shepard let out a small chuckle and began speaking about the last mission. They all agreed to the report and it was sent off. As everyone left Ty came up to Shepard and he began to speak.

"Okay, this is just my power over armor going wrong. It is nothing to be concerned about."

"Alright, you are telling me this because?"

Ty took a deep breath and spoke, "I'm asking you to let me take my own team on Feros. I figured it would be a nice addition. Two teams instead of one."

Shepard thought and then looked back at Ty, "Who would be on this team?"

"Danny, Garrus, and me. We cover all the basics. It is a team I can believe in." Shepard nodded and agreed. He wanted to laugh as Ty ran off pumping his fist and yelling to Danny outside that Shepard said yes.


	11. On the Normandy

**Ty POV:**

I woke up, without a hangover, for the first time in Mass Effect. I ended up in Shepard's bed since there were no sleep pods opened to me and Danny. Over all it was a fairly good nights rest. I only have one complain.

Danny and Shepard like to cuddle. I am happy Shepard loaned me his bed but I hated sharring a place to sleep with one person let alone two. Now, on top of that Shepard and Danny put me in the middle. The only thing that could make it worse was happening. I was constently being grabbed and pulled across the bed into one or the others grasp.

I finally got up and slept at the foot of the bed. I woke up to see Danny and Shepard holding eachother close in the gayest posture ever. I had to have some fun with it. I pulled up my omni-tool and snapped a quick picture of it to show to the crew.

Quietly, I left the room with the picture. First person I saw was Kaiden. He was working on his terminal and looking content. I strolled over to chat with him.

"Hey Kaiden, hows the terminal duty doing for you."

Kaiden just looked away from his terminal at me smiled and went back to work, "Not so bad. Ya'know I half suspected you to stay with Tali in engineering last night but you ended up in the captain's cabin. What's up with that?"

I paused for a moment, not only did Kaiden know I stayed with Shepard last night but he also knew I was starting to hook up with Tali, "Uh, yeah, well, I never have been know to sleep with anyone. Call it religious morals. On top of that, I am one of those weird kids you meet who is waiting for the right girl and not just another notch in my bed stand."

Kaiden began to laugh a little bit, "Your a virgin?"

I felt the blood rush to my face, "Yeah, so."

Kaiden just started laughing at me, "No, you have to be kidding me. Your kidding me right?"

I gave Kaiden a look of hate and felt the glaive I left in the armory somehow appear in my hand. I didn't know what happened but it gave me an idea, "Kaiden, I will seriously fuck your day up if you keep laughing."

Kaiden laughed even harder, "That's the only fucking you will ever do."

I got so angery I took the glaive and rammed it into his console, "I will fucking slash you open you pathetic excuse for a soldier."

Kaiden began staring at me in horror and I felt the stares from the crew lock onto me. I looked around and saw everyone's faces with a look of shock on them. Well, all except Wrex who was smirking over in the corner, obviously enjoying the show.

Then, I looked at my reflection in a nearby mirror. The technocytes were growing rapidly and I was covered up to my chin. From there a layer of metal of glass was working its way over, forming a bubble around my face.

I got angry and left Kaiden freaking about the damage to his console. I didn't know what to do. Wayne never got cured of the technocytes, what does that mean for me? I found mysefl in the elevator heading down to the bay.

The doors opened and I was greeted with a gasp from Ashley, "Oh my god. What's happening?"

I just pushed past her and walked over to Garrus. He was working on his console, looking at something. I leaned over his shoulder and saw a sniper rifle. He was eying it with a hungery expression.

"Is that a rifle you want?"

Garrus looked back at me then at the rifle, "It's called a Naginata X. The most accutate sniper avalible. Could you imagine the kills I could get with that thing. It would be a head shot every time."

I patted Garrus on the back, "Yeah, yeah, so you ready to go into battle on my squad?"

Garrus raised an eyebrow or the turian equvilant, "You are taking a squad?"

I gave a nod, "Yeah, it's going to be you me and Danny."

**Tali POV:**

Tali sat down in the engine room doing...nothing. She had finished her work for the day in only an hour and had the rest of her shift to just run diagnostics. Eventualy, she had ran the same diagnostics program three times and figured she was being over protective of the drive core.

Tali found herself wondering. She pulled up the extranet and began searching human male behavior. All the articals that she found told about how they always were looking for sex and would do anything to get it.

Tali was sitting and reading excuses and tricks men will give to get what they want when she herd two of the engineers talking, "Yeah, I couldn't believe it. The guy cut through and inch of steel with that glaive."

Tali thought of someone that could cut through steel. She eventually figured it was Wrex and decided to ask Garrus about it. Tali waved to Engineer Donelly and pointed to the door. He gave her a nod and she left on break.

Tali exited through the engine room doors and saw Ty had woken up. He was over talking to Garrus. Tali made her way over to join in their conversation.

"Great, I get to go with you and your friend on a mission and possibly get killed."

"Oh, Garrus it's nothing like that. I got a plan that will get it over with quick. Hell, Feros might be the better for it if we do."

Tali got there and cut in, "What's happening on Feros?"

Ty and Garrus looked at her and Ty began explaining, "Well, I get to take a squad on Feros and it was going to be Garrus, Danny, and I but Garrus is pussing out."

Tali perked up with a chance to spend more time with Ty and Danny, "I could go with you. I am good with tech after all."

Ty gave Tali a look of contemplation but shook his head no, "Tali, it's too dangerous. Besideds, I need Garrus for his sniper skill more that anything."

Tali hung her head, "Oh, okay, I can just stay on the ship. I can do some more engine work or something."

Ty put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, I promise we'll be on a squad together on the next mission."

Garrus just tapped Ty on the shoulder and pointed to the elevator. Ty nodded and Garrus left Tali and him to talk.

Tali felt a hand on her chin pick her head up, "Hey, don't feel bad. If it was a different mission, I would bring you. But this is Feros, one of the hardest in the game...I mean journey."

Tali hated all the secrecy so she just came out with it, "I know I am a AI in a computer Ty."

Ty paused for a moment, "Who told you that?"

Tali turned and walked over to the Mako, "When I asked the Consort what I wanted to. She broke the news to me that I wasn't real."

"Tali, your more than an AI."

Tali clenched her fists, "No, she explained everything. I am bits of data, strung together to form a person."

Tali felt arms move around her waist and pull her into an embrace, "Exactaly, you are a person. Just made of something different than me."

Tali looked up and Ty was looking down. She turned and began sobbing, "I don't want to be data. I want to be real."

Ty pulled her in close, "You are Tali. You are."

Tali cried for a few more minutes before asking a question, "Are you okay with being my boyfriend I kind of decided it while you were gone."

She felt Ty straighten out, "As long as your okay with being my girlfriend."

**Danny POV:**

Danny woke up in the morning grogily. He felt something wrapped up in his arms and pressed agiantst his face. Usually, this was one of his pillows from his bed but today it was different. When he moved his face he felt something scratch his cheek.

Danny openned his eyes and looked over to see Shepard holdng him close. Danny let out a yelp that woke Shepard upand kicked in his battle instincts. Immediatly, Shepard grabbed Danny's right arm and left leg and then proceeded to toss him to the other side of the room.

Danny landed agianst the wall with a thud. Sheaprd came out of the blind haze he was in and saw what he had done, "Uh, sorry Danny. I didn't mean the throw you."

Danny felt pain in his chest from hitting the wall and he couldn't say anything. He forced himself to get up and start out the door. However, he still took the time to flip Shepard the bird before making his way out into the mess hall.

Danny got to the table and saw that every seat except one had been taken. That seat was next to Ash. Danny didn't care and took the seat anyway. As soon as his ass hit the chair all eyes at the table zoned in on him.

"Uh, is something wrong?"

Ashley started first, "That is the captains chair."

"Oh, and why is that?"

Ashley gave Danny a look that made him feel stupid for asking, Uh, he and I have a thing going."

"Oh, well he can give up his seat for a little bit after throwing me across the room."

Wrex started laughing, "Why'd he do that?"

Danny just grabbed a meal out of the dispencer built into the wall behind him, "Don't ask it's to akward to talk about."

Danny started eating and had scarft down his whole plate in less than a few minutes. The others kept talking and having a good time. It wasn't until Shepard arrived that they all looked happy. Even Wrex looked like he was having a better time when Shepard came.

Danny pust his head down and started eating another meal when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "excuse me, I think your in my seat."

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard did a quick once over on his equipment and decided it was good enough for the mission. Shepard left his room and saw that everyone was at the table eating. He walked over and everyone immediately started talking to him and acted like he was the life of the party.

Then, he saw Danny had taken his usual place next to Ashley. Shepard cou;d think of amillion ways to get him out but decided to be nice about it.

Shepard calmly walked over and put his hand on Danny's shoulder, "Excuse me, I think your in my seat."

"Nope."

"What?"

"I'm not in your seat. Your name nor your emblem is carved in so you have no proof of ownership."

There was a scielence that followed his statement, "Very funny kid now get out."

"Give me one damn reason why I should."

Shepard grabbed Danny with one arm and held him in the air. He then brought his fist back and was ready to punch. Before, he could let his fist fly something came up that probably saved Danny's life.

"Attention, ground party to airlock. We will be reaching the colony of Zhu's Hope. ETA ten minutes."

**Yeah, I felt it would be a good idea to have Danny and Shepard be at odds. Review if you think that should change.**

**Next Chapter, 7/2/12**


	12. Feros

** So for starters, what the Fuck. I put out three chapters last week and gave the simple goal of 20 reviews. I know there are a lot of people reading this story to. 97 per day. So can you guys make it to 24 this week? I believe you can!**

** Now for fan Qs to be answered:**

** Okay, first off: How did you come up with this idea?**

** My method is a little weird. Have three friends over. Take a few shots. Then, I played Tron and the Matrix at the same time as Mass Effect. That's how I came up with Users.**

** Question 2: What does Ty look like?**

** I'll describe in later chapters.**

** Question tres, do you work with anyone on this story?**

** I like to think I work with my fans. Seagreenshoes has practically helped me write these upcoming chapters. Liege Lord gave me great matirial to use later on. DZEASE gave a request that there is no way I am letting down. I like to think I am telling a story that you want to read.**

** Q-four: Is there going to be a sad ending to this?**

** My characters get the ending we make for them.**

** On to chapter 12...**

**Ty POV:**

I sat outside the airlock ready for whatever new threat Feros would have. My squad assembled quickly. Garrus had his weapons ready to go. Danny was still hung over from the night before and couldn't hold a gun, let alone use it.

Shepard's group was a bit slower than us. It was him Wrex and Liara. They all took place in front and the doors opened.

Usually, this part of the game starts with you meeting a guy and he gets blown up by a missile. Instead, we saw him run passed at a sniper took his head off and his corpse fell hard to the ground.

We were immediately in action mode. Shepard ran out of the airlock with his assault rifle firing. Liara and Wrex put up barriers and joined him. Garrus took cover by some boxes and started giving suppressive fire. I stopped Danny and made him wait inside and ran out to fight the Geth.

I was pissed and ready to take it out on something. The Technocytes had fully encased my body now and I was in Hayden's corrupt armor. Besides that, there was a sort of scratching in the back of my skull that gave little pain but enough to cause and annoyance.

I stepped out from the airlock and was seen by every geth. Missiles locked on and began firing at me. I saw this and ran at them. I was moving faster thanks to the technocytes and had better reflexes. I quickly grabbed a missile out of the air and chucked it back at the geth. It took out two missile launchers but a destroyer quickly took their place.

It charged forward and fired rapidly at me. I met it head on and punched a hole through its mid section. It fell and the rest of the geth began to flee. But I wasn't going to let that happen.

I drew my glaive and began using it to kill the geth left and right. Rocket troopers fell sliced in half. Destroyers had their heads severed. The prime was cut into four different sections. I showed no mercy.

It was all over quickly and I was getting a curious look from Shepard, "That wasn't your normal fighting style.  
"I improvised."

"Yeah I can tell. You sure you can do this mission?"

"Shepard I can do this now leave us alone!"

Shepard gave me a puzzled look, "Did you just say us?"

My head began pounding, "No, we...I mean I didn't say us."

Shepard p[ut his hand on my shoulder but I shrugged him off and started walking toward the stairs. Garrus ran after me and Danny came out of the Normandy looking better. _Probably Chakwas sober serum._

We moved down the stairs and out into the court yard where Shepard ran to meet Fai Dan. My team just chilled and waited for him to come back.

It was the worst ten minutes ever. I kept getting looks from the colonists. They all just pointed, stared, or gawked at me. Whatever the cost I needed to get rid of the technocyte. I was so distracted I didn't pay attention to how much Danny was sneezing.

**Danny POV:**

Danny hated Feros. It was too hot. It was too cloudy. It was too...dusty. He could feel the pollen just floating in the air. Normally he wasn't allergic to anything but something on Feros was the worst.

His eyes couldn't open hardly and every breath he took hurt. Danny began thinking of all the thing it could be and came to the conclusion that it was the Thorian. He must have been allergic to the Thorian.

Luckily, Chakwas caught up with him and gave him a shot of something that sobered him up. Now, all he had to worry about was the army they would be fighting through for the next few hours.

The trio walked to the entrance to the building that had the elevator to the skyway. Ty lead them...down?

"Hey, Ty, shouldn't we go up and like back Shepard up on his way to Exogeni?"

Ty turned back and looked at Danny, "No, We have a plan."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "You mean you have a plan."

Ty just looked around and began walking, "That's what we said. We have a plan. We are going to camp in the Varren tunnel and wait for Shepard to return. It will keep us safe and the place has some armor for Garrus."

Garrus cut in, "What has what for me?"

Ty ran ahead once they got to the bottom of the stairs and began turning on the water gate, "Their are some tunnels up here that the Varren have taken over. We are going to take them out."Ty got up as he finished the first gate and moved to the second, "It will be much safer and less exerting if we do that."

"Sounds like a plan",Garrus replied.

They finished their work and walked up to the door. Ty hit the button and they were attacked by a pack of Varren. Ty ran forward and began the melee the shit out of them. Garrus (of course) resorted to sniping. Danny decided to have some fun here.

He pulled out his pistol and focused on the gravibomb from Ratchet and Clank. The gun quickly morphed in to the launcher and Danny began letting bombs loose all over the place. Quickly, the Varren were all dispatched and the three were up at the Mako tank retrieving their rewards. Danny took a shot gun and transformed his launcher back to a bolt pistol again. He didn't catch it till now but morphing the weapon took a lot out of him.

He was walking to Ty to tell him that this was a piece of cake when the ceiling caved in and a geth colossus rose from the rubble.

**Tali POV:**

9 minutes prior to leaving the Normandy

Ty held Tali in his arms close and protectively. Tali herd Joker say they had ten minutes just a little bit ago. Tali finally stopped crying and had one request of Ty.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her camera, "Would you wear this while your out? I want to be able to watch you and know what's happening. I f something happens to you I want to know and there is really no reason for you not to...I babling aren't I?"

Ty let out a chuckle, "Yes, you are." He reached down and took the camera. He stuck it to his helmet so that Tali could view anything that happens. Then he let her check it.

"Okay, it's on right. Be careful alright."

Ty smiled and leaned down to whisper in her receptor, "You worry too much."

Tali gave him a look of confusion but he was already gone.

one minute after leaving the Normandy

Tali worked on her console, finishing her duties for the day. She had one final diagnostics program to run then she was free to do whatever. She flipped on the program and activated the camera she put on Ty.

Tali gasped at the merciless behavior he was showing. He just kept killing and didn't stop. The power he was using must be coming from the thing that encased him.

Tali watched as he began hacking and slashing a prime apart and found that she was happy with its destruction but not the manner at which Ty did it. He was just attacking to attack, there was no second thought or brief idea on how to attack. He just threw himself at the enemy and destroyed them.

She began trying to open a com channel to him but it wouldn't go through. It was like someone was trying to block her out. She quickly began bypassing all the blocks and forgot about the engine diagnostic program. She kept bypassing till the program came up first on her screen saying there is an apparent problem with a vent.

Tali worked fast grabbing her tool kit and ran over to the vent. She opened it up and crawled inside. She crawled until she reached the blockage. She had no idea what it was and pushed on it to try and move it. It felt organic, she was a little scared at this fact but she still tried to move it with a prod from her knife.

It growled at her.

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard flew down the prothian skyway in the Mako. He was going full throttle and ran into any geth on the bridge. He kept going until he picked up some com chatter hailing them, "hello? Is anyone there? We are refugees from-"

"No get away from there."

Shepard stopped the Mako and looked at Wrex and Liara for some direction. Wrex just pointed out that they had a mission to do and saving people wasn't part of it. Liara suggested that it would be a smart Idea to check up on the people.

Shepard agreed with Liara and they left the tank to speak with whoever is inside. They walked in and several guards all aimed directaly at Shepard.

**Okay, so this Chapter is shorter than the others. But with good reason. Did you see all the cliff hangers. Feros is going to be fun to write. BTW start submitting ideas and thoughts on Virmire via reviews.**

**Next Chapter, 7/6/12**


	13. A Colossal headache

**Ty's POV:**

A geth, not a Trooper, not a Destroyer, not even a Prime, but a Colossus. It stood right over me and its eye began to glow. I know I was pissed off and ready to kill something but this...was...just too big. It just looked at me and fired.

White, that's all that followed the geth blast. I was in a white space with nothing but me. I looked around and something come from the ground. It was me fighting the Geth Colossus on a screen of some sort. I was holding it's legs back from crushing me.

I was surprised that the screen appeared and even more that I was holding the legs back from crushing me. I reached out to touch the screen and it dissipated. The particles that made it rewove into the Corrupt armor and began speaking in a synthetic voice.

"Hello, we are Ty."

I was so confused, "No I'm Ty."

The armor nodded its head, "Yes, we are Ty."

I shook my head no, "I'm Ty why do you say we are."

"We are apart of you, you are a part of us. In a sense we are Ty."

I reached out and touched the fin that was on the mask, "How are you part of me?"

"When you created the technocyte in this world. We came into existence. With no controller to dictate our action, we developed a mind of our own. Now, we are symbiotic to you."

"Your symbiotic to me? Why does that not sound good?"

"We do not know. We have increased you strength by 200% and have taken over while you are unconscious."

I couldn't rap my head around this, "Your saying I am knocked out but still fighting?"

The armor motioned to the side and another screen came to life, "No, you are unconscious and we are fighting." The screen came on and showed Garrus, Danny and well me fighting the Geth Colossus.

I began to get annoyed, "Why do you refer to yourself as we?"

He put the screen away and stood for a moment, "We are a collection of nanobots that create more through you and each has it's own data in the hive-mind that is the Technocytes. Ergo, there is no I but a we."

I began to understand, "Okay, so when I would speak and mean to say I..."

"We would replace that with the correct word we."

"Okay, so we-",I felt a sudden pain in my left arm, "ah, fuck. What the hell was that?"

"We apologize but the Geth Colossus caught us in the open with its main cannon."

"Awe hell, that hurt."

"Yes, we are reading you are loosing very much blood. Permission to us medigel."

"The fuck, I have medigel?"

"Yes, we read your current stock is at three. We would like permission to use it. Almost a pint of blood has been lost."

"Use it. Now!"

"Warning: team mate Danny has fainted. Possible reasons...over use of powers. Only option is to take back to ship for medical help. No other solution."

"Okay, that is it. Put me in, I can do a better job then you can!"

"We do not agree with your order. Since taking over we have given you a five percent increase in speed and tactical awareness."

"No, you let me out. It was my body first and it still is my body. If you want to help, do it. If you don't I can still beat this thing faster than you."

"While we do not agree with your actions, we allow you full control. Do we have permission to advise?"

"Fuck, I don't care. Just put me in."

"Very well, reawakening host."

**Danny POV:**

Danny watched as the Colossus aimed and fired its cannon right into Ty. He dropped like a fly and wasn't moving. Garrus was the first to react and fired a shot right at the Colossus head. It just pinged off the machines connetic barriers but got its attention.

The colossus turned to Garrus and fired a shot right at the Turian. Garrus hightailed it away from the shot but still got swept up in the blast. It picked him up and threw him against the wall. Danny was now the only one left.

The Colossus turned to him and readied a shot. It was about to fire when its legs flew out from under it. Danny looked to see Ty had was up and ready to fight. The Colossus saw Ty too and brought one of its legs down right on him.

Ty caught the leg and held it up while he pulled out hist Stiletto and fired it rapidly into the Colossus. The Colossus countered by bringing his other leg down on Ty. He dropped his pistol and held the Colossus.

When that happened, Danny came out of his pause and grabbed his pistol. He was already tired but he needed to make a weapon that could kill the Colossus. He closed his eyes and focused on the spartan laser. It was hard and at one point he heard the Geth firing on Ty but Danny continued to concentrate until he felt the pistol morph into the laser. Then, he passed out.

**Tali POV:**

Tali crawled through the vents searching for an exit. The monster she had awoken trailed close behind her. It's long claws reached for her but she kept out of it's reach.

Tali took a left turn and the creature had to readjust before following. Tali broke free of the vents into the engine room and the crew turned and ran to help her. Engineer Adams spoke first.

"Tali, is something wrong? Why the panic?"

Tali looked from Adams to te vent, "That is what's wrong!"

The creature was pulling itself out of the vent and spitting acid everywhere. Adams pulled Tali up and began shouting for the engineers to clear the room. The monster got out of the vent and ran strait at Tali.

Tali reached for her shotgun but it wasn't there. All she had was her knife against the creature with ten giant claws. It began to charge but Tali held her ground.

The creature made a lunge but Tali side stepped it and brought the knife into its back. The creature fell to the ground and Tali retrieved her knife. She hadn't even thought that it was easy and the creature was getting up.

The creature came to its feet and Tali got a good look at it. It was humanoid but more dried out. The creature or creeper held both arms in a mantis like posture. Tali readied herself for its next attack and was quickly met with the spray of juices from the creepers mouth. It got on her and began eating away at her suit.

"You bosh'tet, my boyfriend got this for me."

Tali became pissed and began hacking and slashing at the creeper. She started with a stab to the stomach and followed by pulling the knife out and up into the creepers jaw. Gripping the knife she pulled it down the creepers neck and to the middle of the stomach.

Tali took a step back and the creeper fell. Tali felt good that she had saved the engineers until she heard the howls and growls coming from the vents.

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard drew his shotgun and aimed it at the men in front of him, "Put the weapons down. Nobody has to be hurt."

As soon as Shepard said the last word a vibration came through. It surged over everything and caused a panic among the people behind the guards. Shepard didn't know what just happened and was about to ask when each one of the guards were shot and killed. The killing didn't stop there, the shots continued till all the people in the room were dead.

Shepard quickly turned around to see another gun in his face, "Hello, Shepard. Hows the hunting going."

Shepard scowled, "Saren."

Saren moved his gun and relieved that he was accompanied by a small army of Geth, "Sorry for killing all you friends you were about to make but I had to speed things up."

Shepard became confused, "What are you talking about?"

Saren put his gun away and walked over to use a computer, "You see Shepard, your friends that...arrived on your ship have greater significance than you realize. There are many things that will change in the coming week and very little will benefit me unless I make it."

Shepard didn't care what position he was in now. He pulled out his pistol and started firing it as rapid as possible at Saren. None of the shots hit.

Saren gave a smirk, "Another thing I love about this. Shepard I can't die until a certain point along your journey. You however", Saren pulled a pistol and put a shot into Shepards side without looking up from the computer, "can be."

Shepard clutched his side and quickly began applying medigel, "What are you doing here?"

Saren got up from the computer with an OSD in his hand, "Like I said before, speeding things up." Saren put the OSD in Shepard's hand, "That OSD has all the information you would find on this world. Hurry along now, don't be late to Virmire. Oh and one more thing, Exogeni head quarters is", there was a loud explosion, "out of business."

Saren left with Shepard more confused then when he met Ty.

**Ty's POV:**

I took control over my body and was welcomed with the pain of my over stressed muscels. I was holding up both legs of the Colossus and it was applying more weight constantly. The pain was to much and I was forced to drop to one knee.

_If this goes on any longer, I'll be crushed. _I began frantically looking for a way to defeat the Geth. I looked and saw Garrus regaining conscientiousness and Danny was knocked out holding a spartan laser. That was my chance. I needed to get to the laser and take down the Colossus.

In a ditch effort I threw the legs off to the sdie and ran towards the laser. I ran even as I heard the Colossus charging its firing cannon. The sound only made me run faster.

Then, it fired and in reflex I jumped and spun in the air throwing my glaive at the Colossus blast. The shot and my glaive collided causing a back blast that took down the Geth shields. This gave me enough time to grab the laser and begin charging.

Unfortunately, the Geth Colossus was readying it's shot as well.


	14. A Renegade, a Sentinal, and a User

**Okay, so I hope I didn't starve you to the point of hating me for all eternity for the week long wait. Anyway, I'm happy to say that my beta reader has been great to work with and has had a great impact on my story. Thank you DarknessintheCorners!**

**Oh and check out the story ****Crimson Depths I: Paragon**** by my friend JustAFerret. It's a really good story. Other must read is ****Dark Jewel****, ****Roma Victor: Crossroads of an Empire****, and ****A Golden Heart II: The Crusaders**** by Sergius the Great.**

**Now, tell you friends, tell your dog, and then tell your psychiatrist to regain the little bit of sanity you lost from telling you dog cause, Users is back with more chapters!**

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard finished patching himself up from when Saren shot him. He let the medigel begin to glaze and inspected the OSD. It was a larger version, 20 gigabytes, and was omnitool compatable.

Shepard flipped on his omnitool and took a look at the OSD. It was a plant of unknown origin and had the power of mind control. Shepard began to laugh at this. Saren actually thought Shepard would believe that there was a plant that could control people.

Shepard kept reading, finding a file on acacia trees and how they have the same ability except they use it on insects. Continuing, he saw diagrams on how the plant spores affect the mind causing it to halucinate and kill anything that poses a threat to the Thorian.

Alarmed, Shepard ordered the team back to the Mako and they made a beeline for the colony. The ergency of what needed to be done was so intence that Shepard didn't even try to avoid the Geth. He ran right through them.

He got to he door and everyone got out of the vehical, "Okay, we are going to go in there and cut down anything in our way!"

Liara spoke up before Shepard hit the button to open the door, "What about the colonists?"

Shepard let out a curse and looked back at his omnitool. There was a knockout gas that could have helped them but they didn't have time to make it. Shepard couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"They are between us and the Thorian. Do what you have to."

From this he got a pleased grunt from Wrex and a disaproving shake of the head from Liara. The doors openned and Shepard came face to face with the ugliest creature he had ever seen. It looked like a dried up human and was running directly at them.

Shepard didn't even flinch, he drew his pistol and gunned it down. That is when the trio was off. Cutting through the enemy like a hot knife through butter.

**Ty POV:**

I held my ground and fired the laser right as the Colossus fired it's cannon. The blasts flew right past eachother and hit their tagets. Mine hit the Colossus blowing it to pieces. The Colossus shot flew right at me and I had the chance to get out of the way but I couldn't. Danny was right behind me and if I mover he'd die.

I had to make the choice fast, I thought about it for a moment and took a moment too long. The shot slammed into me and I flew backwards. I flew up and smacked agianst the Mako tank.

"Ty, we sudgest you get up. We believe you have taken an injury to the lower right side of your torso."

"What?" I began to get up but something had gone threw my stomach.

"Ty, we believe you have been skeward."

I just sat and stared at the piece of metal that had broken through my stomach. My blood was gushing out and all over. I looked up and saw Garrus was getting up.

"Hey, Garrus, little help?"

Garrus looked up rubbing his head, "What's wrong? Get knocked on your ass too-" He looked up and ran over to me, "That's not good."

"Why doesn't it hurt?"

"Uh, I think you are going into shock. I'm going to need help. Where's Danny?"

I looked over to Danny laying helpless on the floor. I raised my hand and pointed at his limp form. Garrus saw and let a curse. He then grabbed my omnitool and began searching files.

"What are you doing?"

Garrus kept scanning through my files until he found a specific one, "You have the file for Unity."

I began to loose my sense of awarness, "What's that do?"

"It will give a shot of adrenaline to any down squad mates."

Garrus hit the button and Danny shot up like he was zapped.

**Danny POV:**

Danny felt a surge of energy run through his body. He sat up immediately feeling his heart racing faster than NASCAR. All, that could be done was move in fast forward.

Danny's eye was caught by Garrus waving him over and Danny was over to him faster that he knew that he could run. He looked and saw Ty wa bleeding and had a pipe through the gut.

"What happed to him?"

"He got launched by the Colossus blast. It threw him on this pipe."

"Damn!" Danny's boyscout training kicked in and he began applying pressure.

Ty sat there hemorrhaging as blood flowed from the wound. Garrus began pouring medigel on it as Danny continued to apply pressure but the bleeding wouldn't stop. They began to panic and Ty started speaking what could be his final words.

"Danny, I need you to do something for me."

Danny kept applying pressure, "What do you need?"

He put his hand on Danny's shoulder, "I need you to find my son Mar. "

Danny looked at Ty in confusion, "Say what?"

Ty grabbed a rock from next to him and handed it to Danny, "He'll be wearing this symbol to show our allegiance to the house of Mar."

Danny grabbed Ty and pulled him off the spike and set him down on the gound. Garrus continued to apply medigel. Ty just went into shock from blood loss.

Garrus finished and looked over at Danny, "What was that about?"

Danny looked at the rock and chucked it across the room, "I honestly don't know, I think he was quoting Jack and Daxter."

"What's Jack and Daxter?"

"I'll tell you later."

They were about to sit and rest for a moment when the enterance to the room blew open and Colonists entered the room guns trained on Danny and Garrus. Their hand's immediately shot up in a surrender position.

"The Great Plant wants you dead."

Danny gave a smirk, "Are you colonists listening to your salad or something."

The colonists looked at each other contemplating what Danny just said. They were nodding and shaking their heads before one finally turned back to them and replied.

"Your confusing words will not hinder our mission."

Danny smiled, "Well, if that won't, maybe this will." Danny glowed blue and fired a biotic throw at the colonists. They were both picked up and tosed across the room.

Garrus did a double take from Danny to the colonists, "How'd you do that?"

"My last Shepard was a Sentinal."

Garrus thought for a moment, "Here, let me see your omnitool."

Danny gave Garrus his arm and Garrus went to work openning and actvating files. Danny watched and saw four buttons appear on his omnitool. Garris finished and gave Danny the down low.

"Okay, the blue button is Overload and the green is first aid. I honestly have no clue what the red does and the purple is incinerate. I sudjest using overload on the colonists. It will give them a nasty shock but it won't kill them."

Danny looked doen at his omnitool and his finger hovered over the red button. He thought for a moment then said, "Fuck it."

He hit the button and a holographic projection traced over his armor and shields popped up everywhere. They were a gold color and Danny was incased in tech armor. He looked from his omnitool to Garrus with a crazy grin on his face.

"You get Ty and stay behind me. I'll be the bullet shield."

**Tali POV:**

The ship was on high alert and all personel were grabbing rifles, shotguns, and pistols. They began lining the vents and preparing for the worst. Joker was locking down the ship while Tali made her way to the engines to start a cleaning function to kill all the monsters that hid in the vents.

It didn't take long and the ship was safe in a matter of minutes. Tali then went back to her camera that she had on Ty. She looked it up on her console and saw that Ty was looking strait up.

She became worried but kept her cool and waited for Ty to look around. She held her breath after he didn't move for sveral seconds. Her lungs began to burn when Ty finally looked around.

Tali let out that breath in a sigh of relief but sucked it back in when he looked down. He was skeward on a pipe. His blood was running like water and he was calling over to Garrus. Tali had to tear herself away from the screen. She felt the need to throw up after seeing him impaled. Tali quickly ran out of the room and tripped outside the door.

She sat huddled on the ground, afraid of what she just saw. Afraid of what could happen to Ty. Afraid of what could happen to her. Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Tali looked up and saw Ashley.

"You all right?"

Tali looked up at her with tears streaming down her face. She just shook her head no.

Ashley helped her up and took her over to the work bench, "I get it. Your worried about the kid and that he's out in the field, huh."

Tali shook her head yes.

Ashley smiled, "It doesn't get any easier to let them go out and fight. But it will get better. Just look at Shepard and I."

Tali's eyes continued to water, "It's not the same."

Ashley gave her an inquisitive look, "Why would that be?"

Tali sucked in a breath and spoke, "Because yours isn't dying right now."

**Shepard POV:**

Shepard and his team entered the elevator, a path of death laid behind them. In total they had killed six colonists. All of them, Shepard made the kill shot.

He didn't know why but the killing felt good. It was nice to end a life that wasn't a monster. Every kill was a release of his anger and gave him a relief.

They entered the elevator and Shepard hit the button to go down. Everyone was quiet and the scilence was good. Then, Liara spoke up.

"Shepard, whay can't we look for alternate ways to bring down the colonists?"

Shepard clenched his teeth at her insubordination, "Because, we don't have time. The Thorian has to be brought down."

"Why?"

"Because it's affecting colonists."

"So, we are killing the people we are trying to save?"

Shepard was about to retaliate when the doors opened and Shepard saw Danny in glowing armor. He looked over and waved at Shepard. Shepard just waved back and saw a missile heading for Danny.

"Look out!" It was too late. The missile struck and dust filled the room. Shepard ran out into it and searched the ground for Danny but was surprised to see him still standing. "How are you still up?"

Danny kept his composure but had a mischievious grin on his face, "Tech armor, it makes me a walking tank and-"

Danny was cut off as a prime entered the room and his tech armor shut off at the same time. The prime turned to them and opened fire. Danny tackled Shepard back into the elevator.

"I think we are going to need some help!"

"Where's the rest of your squad?"

"Ty got impaled on a pole, os Garrus had to stay behind and move up when it's safe."

"Oh, shit!" A grenade flew into the elevator.

** Hope you enjoy Users and leave some feed back. I want to kow if there is any way to make this story better.**


	15. The loogy

**Okay, it's a lot later in the day for this upload but all the same here it is. Thank you to feed back. It's always welcome. The chapter flow is going to slow down for about two weeks. My goal is a chapter a week but I can't really promise more right now. I've been distracted with college and a new fic I've been working on. Not going to give too much away but it's called Loosing Humanity.  
**

**On a side note, have you read my last fic. If you haven't, go check it out. If I get enough requests I might extend it and continue that story.  
**

**On a side side note, check out the story A New Frontier. My friend Warbozz is writing it and I think it has a lot of potential.  
**

**Danny:**

Danny sat with Shepard, Wrex, Garrus, Liarra, and an unconscious Ty outside of the lair of the Thorian. The had just finished getting everything settled and the colonists or what was left of them were safely tucked away. Danny just finished checking his weapons and looked over to the rest of the crew.

"Okay, Danny what are we going to see down there?"

Danny smiled, "Walls."

Shepard ran a hand over his shaved head, "Okay, one last time, what are we going to see down there?"

"Something that looks like a loogy with an alien vagina for a mouth."

Shepard gave a smile and began to laugh. Everyone just started looking around at each other in wonder. Then, Shepard brought his fist in and landed one right in Danny's mid section. Danny fell to the ground and clutched his stomach.

"What was that for?"

Shepard gave Danny a menacing glare and pointed his finger at him, "Listen you fucking troll. Take this seriously and tell me, what the hell is down there?"

Danny got up and wiped the spit that was running down his face, "Exactly what I told you. If you don't believe me, you'll see in a minute."

Shepard just huffed and took off down the stairs. The rest of the crew looked from him to Danny. Danny looked from them to Ty, who was laying against the housing container near the stairs.

Garrus then spoke up, "Uh, what are we going to do about him?"

Danny shook his head and took off down the stairs. Garrus followed with Wrex but one stayed behind.

Danny and the crew arrived down with Shepard who was staring at the big ball of shit in the middle of the room. Garrus took one look at it and then threw up. Shepard was staring with his mouth open completely confused to what he was looking at. The only one who could even think to speak was Wrex.

"Looks like something I coughed up last week."

Danny about burst out laughing, "You see a thing like that and you think of what you cough up?"

Wrex looked at Danny confused, "Wall, yes, matter of fact, I do. Problem?"

Danny just patted Wrex on the shoulder, "Nope, just love your mind set Wrex."

Danny stepped forward and looked at the Thorian, "Don't worry guys. This thing is as easy to beat as a Geth prime."

Shepard just shook his head, "That doesn't inspire much confidence from what happened earlier."

Everyone was immediately silenced as the Thorian began to shake and groan. Then, the two nostrils on it's head spat out a red dust and it began to heave. It's mouth then contracted and opened to drop a green asari. Danny began to fire a throw at it until the Thosian heaved again. This time it spat out a human. Just a regular human about Danny's age.

The boy got up and whipped the goo out of his face, "Uh, that was disgusting."

Danny looked at the kid and imagined him without the goo, "Cody?"

Cody looked over at Danny, "Danny? What the fuck is going on?"

Danny took a few steps toward him and was distracted just long enough for the hit him with a throw. Danny flew backwards and hit Garrus. The arari moved quickly and grabbed Cody. She then pulled a shotgun and opened fire on Shepard. Shepard dodged behind a pillar and looked again. The asari began to speak.

"You cannot defeat the great plant. He has survived through many cycles and has never fallen to the reapers. Now, I am to kill you in his name. For the great plant! For the Thor-"

The asari was cut off by a sniper shot from Garrus, "Hostages, never get in my way."

**Ty:**

I was back in the white area and the Technocytes were infront of my staring or at least I thought they were staring. I had been there for about ten minutes and been board out of my mind. Worst of all, I didn't know what was happening in the real world or outer world.

"Ty, we have come to a conclusion on multiple questions."

I was surprised at his sudden out burst, "To what, is it important?"

"Yes, the entire colony has agreed that this is a very urgent question that needs an answer now."

"Okay, out with it."

"We need medical attention."

"Your fucking kidding me. You spend all this time deciding we needed medical attention?"

The Technoctyes shook their head no and put their hands up in defense, "We also have a name for ourselves."

"And what would that be."

"Well, we went thought your recent memories and found a suitable name for us."

"Okay, wait, you can go through my memories?"

"Yes, it is useful for us to get to know you."

"Or you could just ask me. Anyway, your name."

"From what you described of your cousin. We would like to be called Drew."

"No way. You are not taking his name."

"We apologize but it is not your choice to make. We have made our choice and we will not change it."

"Okay, Drew, how do we get medical attention."

"We have no idea how to-Alert, new mind has entered consensus. Foreign and could cause a malfunctiuon. Attempting to reroute. Error, reroute failed. Allowing for new mind to conjoin."

The white faded to black and a swirl of blue matrix code matirialized and formed a shape. The shape then condensed and detailed until it was Liara. She stood for a moment and her eyes opened when her for colapsed to the ground.

I kneeled down to help her, "Are you okay?"

Liara sat up and looked at me, "Yes, I'm fine. It was harder to make the connection this time as if something was trying to block me out."

"That was us."

Liara looked over at the voice and jumped up, "Who are you?"

"We are Drew. A colony of Technocytes that have encased Ty."

Liara looked from Drew to me, "And when were you planning on telling everyone that you have another person inside you?"

I opened my mouth to answer but Drew cut in, "Technically, we do not live inside but in symbiosis with Ty. Technically, we are Ty."

Liara pinched the bridge of her nose, "Okay, Ty, when were you planning on telling everyone you had", Liara gestured over at Drew, "that?"

I just got angry, "Okay, since I've found out he was living in my head-"

"Not to anger you but we live with you."

I clenched my fists, "Okay, since I found he was living in my head I've had to fight a colossus and been knocked out. When have I had time to tell?"

"Fair enough. Now, what is down the stairs?"

"What stairs?"

The stairs, we had to lift up a housing container to get to it. The Thorian is at the bottom."

"Oh, you mean the loogy with an alien vagina for a mouth. Yeah, it's not to hard. Wait... I've been knockout for this whole thing?"

"Since we met up with Garrus yes. Now back to the Thorian."

"Liara, the others can handle it. You need to get me to the medbay. Now!"

"Ty it's not that simple. I have to help Shepard and-"

"Liara, there is no time. Now get me to the medbay!"

"But."

"Now!"

**Shepard:**

Shepard ran forward and grabbed Cody from the fallen asari. Cody was freaking out over what was happening and fought agianst Shepard as he pulled him to safety. Shepard just got fed up with it and whacked Cody over the head. Cody stopped struggling after that and Shepard was able to get himself and Cody behind cover.

"Are you okay?"

Cody looked at Shepard for a second, "Holy shit, your Shepard."

"Okay, now that is established. Are you okay?"

Cody looked down at himself and nodded his head.

"Good stay here while I take care of the loogy. Son of a bitch, Danny was right."

Cody just gave Shepard a confused look, "Danny was right?"

Shepard just shook his head and began shooting at the creepers that were pouring threw the door. They were about to get over run when Danny used a throw and sent them all tumbling backwards. This gave Shepard a chance to lob a grenade into the mist of the creepers and take them out. The grenade went off and Shepard saw a vine on the side of the wall burst and break off, followed by a pained wail from the Thorian.

The team began moving like clockwork, as Danny would use his biotics, Shepard and Garrus would pick the creepers off from a far. This allowed Wrex to get in close to the asari that the Thorian was spitting out and take them down before real damage could be done.

In mere minutes the Thorian was hanging by one root. Shepard pulled a grenade and began to prime it when Danny cut in.

"Your not going to kill it?"

Shepard gave Danny a confused look, "Well, yeah, I am."

Danny threw his hands up and pointed at the Thorian, "No it needs to be preserved. It's the last of it's kind."

"And how do you purpose we do that?"

"The same way all endangered creatures are taken care of, we put it in a giant glass jar for little kid to tap on to try and get tit to do something."

Shepard shook his head and tossed the grenade. It hit and the Thorian was a goner. The root gave way and it tumbled to the bottom of the pit. Shepard looked back at the others but saw a surprised look on their collective faces. Shepard turned to see what it was and came face to face with the Thorian's asari but she was blue.

**I know what your thinking. Another User? Well, he's important to the plot. Yes, I actually have a plot to this story.**


	16. Back at the Medbay

**So Users is back up. No it isn't passed the week random fan. It is only 11:00pm on Saturday.  
**

**This is it. Back to the Normandy.  
**

**So, tell your friends, tell your dog, then tell your psychiatrist cause Users is back.  
**

**Cody:**

Cody stepped aboard the Normandy and had his mind blown for the fifth time today. He couldn't believe the worst day of his life just became a kick ass adventure to the galaxy's secrets. Cody began to think back as he was taken on a tour of the Normandy.

It started with his morning; he had to live at his parents' house for a while due to college expenses. All in that time his dad decided that he needed to get up earlier. So every night his dad was setting his alarm clock back ten minutes. Today, he woke up at 5:30am after he went to bed at 3:00am.

For breakfast, he ended up cooking every one pancakes because every time he finished three, someone would grab them. He'd start over and make three, someone would grab them. It just kept happening until the fifth batch when everyone had eaten.

Later, his girlfriend calls him up and says that they need to talk. He met her at their usual spot at the park. There she broke it off and hopped in a car with another guy. Cody had been down in the dumps until he got a text from Danny. Cody read the text.

Hey, going to Ty's place. He doesn't know. Bring a keg. WE'RE GETTING SHIT FACED.

If there was something Cody needed it was Danny, Ty, and a keg. Those three mixed with Mass Effect Multiplayer always kept him out of depression.

Cody ran home and grabbed his Xbox and then stopped by the liquor store and grabbed a keg. He ran over to Ty's house quick and arrived to an eerie quiet. Usually, by this time, Ty and Danny would be arguing about something with Hollywood Undead blaring in the background. Yet, there was nothing.

Cody stepped in and set the keg down on Ty's couch and saw the TV was on. He took a look at it and saw Danny on screen. He was in Mass Effect and fighting on Feros. Cody got close to the screen and touched it. The TV responded with a shock that sent him fling across the room into the kitchen.

Cody got up and felt like an electric charge was surging through his hair. He got back up and made his way to the couch. Cody took a seat next to the keg and poured a glass. He took a sip and then gulped the rest down. Then he looked to his left. Next to him was a glowing Xbox controller that had lit up A and X buttons. Cody was a little freaked by the controller as it was floating and facing toward him. Cody reached out and touched the controller and... nothing happened.

Cody looked around and saw that nobody was around to catch him and he took the controller in both hands and began moving the sticks. He saw Shepard running back and forth from where Cody moved the sticks. Now, he could take some anger out.

Cody began killing everyone. Nobody was safe from Cody's rage. Eventually, he rushed a prime. His finger immediate assumed that B was the correct button to press to melee and all of his energy drained from him and he felt himself absorbed. Then, he woke up in a slimy mess, was saved by the gang, and now was aboard the freaking Normandy.

"And that concludes the tour, any questions?"

Cody looked at Shepard. He didn't even realize that he had recollected through his whole tour, "Uh, yeah, thank you Shepard. This is sweet."

Shepard let a chuckle, "Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it? Well, your friend Ty is in the infirmary. Chakwas said that she needs you and Danny there quickly."

Cody looked at Shepard, confused, "How did you find that out?"

Shepard pulled up his omnitool, "It was sent to everyone's omnitool. Didn't you get it?"

Cody shook his arm a little and no omnitool came, "Uh, I guess not."

"Whatever."

Shepard took off and gave Cody the cold shoulder. Cody just gave a duh fuck look and then made his way down the stairs to the Medbay. There he saw a worried Tali, a bored-looking Chakwas, a thoughtful Liara, and a still drinking Danny.

**Danny:**

Danny and the crew arrived aboard the Normandy. First thing he wanted was liqueur and the second was to see Ty. They all assumed that Liara had taken him back while they defeated the Thorian. Luckily, they were right. Danny walked into the Medbay and saw Ty laying on the table and Chakwas getting frustrated over something.

"Ey, peeps, how's it hanging with cyborg here?"

Chakwas threw herself back in her chair and grabbed her hair with her hands, "Frustrating, no matter what I do, I can't break the armor's skin. It also has become resistant to code hacks. Like it's become sentient."

Danny thought for a moment and then came to the most logical conclusion that he could, "I need a beer."

Danny did a one-eighty and stepped back into the mess hall. Looking around he saw everyone eating and enjoying that they were leaving Feros. Yet, no one was drinking. Danny could feel there was alcohol on the ship. Whenever it was around, he knew.

Danny began scanning the area and scoped everyone at their stations. Then, he saw the movement of someone trying to conceal something. His eyes quickly locked on to Kaiden drinking from a bottle. A plan began forming in his mind about how to get it.

When Kaiden set the bottle down Danny used a pull to bring the bottle forward. Once it was in the right place he made his way over to Kaiden.

"Hey, Kaiden, how goes the computer stuff?"

Kaiden looked over at Danny and continued to work, "Eh, it gets hard at times but you just have to clench your teeth and power through."

"That's what she said."

"What?"

Danny leaned over Kaiden's counter, "What you said seemed like a girl would describe sex. Ergo, that is what she said."

Kaiden just shook his head, "Look, I have to eat, so I'll continue this pointless conversation... never."

Kaiden just walked away without a second look at his terminal. Danny thought it was too good to be true and reached around to grab the alcohol but it wasn't there. Danny looked over at Kaiden who was walking away but spared a glance and held the bottle up high enough for Danny to see.

"Oh, he's good. But..."

Danny walked back around Kaiden's console and found a stash of alcohol, "Not good enough." Danny reached in and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and scotch. He placed the scotch in his armor's carrying paunch and opened the whiskey. Then, he saw Kaiden didn't log off his terminal.

When no one was looking Danny began subscribing Kaiden to any porn site he could. Then, he left the screen open so any one who walked by would think badly of Kaiden. Danny ended by high-tailing back to the Medbay, a drink in one hand and a smile on his face.

**Tali:**

Tali absorbed herself into her work. She didn't want to think of... him, or the mission he was on. All she wanted to do was finish her work and go to bed. That way she could wake up from her bad dream.

Tali just finished connecting the new wire cables when she heard an engineer yell from across the room, "Shepard's back!"

Several engineers picked their stuff up and left. Tali sat frozen, she didn't want to even think about what this could mean. Ty could be hurt or dead. Tali cringed at her thoughts and finished her work. Then, it was time to head to the Medbay.

Tali exited the drive core and walked into the elevator. There, she saw someone she was hoping to avoid.

"Hey, Tali, how's work going?"

"Oh, hey Alenko. Just fine, thanks."

Then, Alenko crossed his arms and got a smirk on his face, "So, did you remember my Brandy?"

Tali bowed her head in shame, "No, I forgot last time we were at the Citadel. There was the meeting with the Consort and then that cat alien thing. It just got so hectic that I let it slip my mind."

Kaiden patted Tali on the head, "It's okay, I heard what happened. You can do it next time, right?"

Tali looked up and shook her head frantically, "Yes, I will definitely do that. I'll put it in my omnitool right now", she replied as she pulled up her omnitool and added it to her list of stuff to get at the Citadel.

Kaiden chuckled a little bit, "Good, now you might want to go to the Medbay. Your boy is in there and not in good shape."

Tali's eyes widened and she took off past Kaiden in a rush. She got into the elevator and hit the up button. The ride up felt like an eternity as she began to panic. The doors hadn't even opened yet and Tali was clawing at the door.

Once the door began to open, Tali dropped down and rolled through the door before it was fully opened. She got up quickly and took off down the hall. She opened the doors and saw Ty laying on the hospital bed with Liara and Danny standing over him.

Tali rushed over to Ty and began scanning his body for damage. When she saw the medigel seal over part of his armor she immediately zeroed in on Danny.

"What happened to him?"

"We got caught by a colossus. Ty managed to hold it off while Garrus and I were unconscious."

Tali looked down at Ty, "How long till he wakes up?"

Chakwas shook her head, "We don't know. Something is keeping him asleep."

That's when Liara stood, "I can help. I can connect our minds and try and figure out what is holding him in his sleep."

Tali made a violent motion toward Liara, "Bet you would like to be in his head again, wouldn't you?"

Liara put her hands up, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I saw you two before we arrived at the Citadel. You have your face locked to his."

Chakwas stepped in between them, "Enough, this is not the time to be arguing. Liara, you can join minds. Tali, if Ty doesn't wake up... things are going to deteriorate fast."

Tali clenched her fists, "Alright, do it."

**Ty:**

"It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of-"

Drew cut in, "Ty, we have found that you are stuck on a playback. Would you like us to assist?"

I just rubbed my temples, "No, just killing time. How long till I wake up?"

Drew stood for a moment, "Sir, we have noticed that Liara is trying to make a mental connection again with you. Should we allow it?"

I just threw my hand up, "Let her in. But seriously, how long?"

Drew stood for a moment as Liara reformed, "Still calculating."

Liara fully materialized, "Hey Liara, what's the word from the outside?"

Liara gave a look of confusion but quickly shook it away, "We have been trying to wake you. It seems that something is keeping you asleep."

I pointed at Drew with my thumb, "Yep, that bastard over there. Keeps telling me he's making necessary adjustments."

"Ty, we are ninety percent done and about to complete our work if you would just-Warning unnecessary minds adding to already filled consensus. Trying to block. Fail. Trying to reroute. Fail. Allowing access."

I face palmed, "Can you ever stop someone from melding minds with me."

Danny and Cody materialized in front of Ty, "Oh shit."

Danny nodded his head, "So, this is your mind Ty. It's very... open."

I just pinched the bridge of my nose, "What do you want, Danny?"

Cody walked over to Drew, "This is cool, Ty. How'd you get this statue?"

"That's not a statue and wait... how the hell did you get in here, Cody?"

"Well, Danny put his hand on Liara's shoulder and it dragged him in so I did the same."

"Not that, I mean, how did you get into Mass Effect?"

"Oh, I went over to your house to rage play. I don't know how I got pulled in though."

"Well, this is utterly gre-ahhh, pain. So much pain. God, more painful than doing Danny's mom."

Danny heard Ty, "Hey-"

"Ty, we have finished adjustments. Inputting. You may feel a slight pain."

"Fuck you, Drew!"

**Hey, don't forget to vote on your favorite character. Tali is currently in the lead with 100% of the votes.**

**Oh, and I'm not opposed to feedback.  
**


	17. Awkward on all levels

**Hey, chapter 17 is out. I can't believe it. Honestly, I can't believe enough people liked it to convince me to go past ten. Here's a hand for all the reviewers, Favorites, and alerts that I am on. Thanks guys, I really owe you.  
**

** I don't own mass Effect. If I did... Chakwas wouldn't be played by the Locust Queen.**

**Okay, voters, Tali is now tied with Danny at 2 votes and Shepard is tied with Ty at 1 vote.  
**

**Tali:**

Tali sat holding Ty's hand waiting for him to do anything. So far, besides the rise and fall of his chest, he had been immobile. Liara had tried to make a mental connection but all that was happening now was that she was standing over Ty with her big black eyes and Danny and Cody were there with her.

Tali laughed at her though but quickly stifled it. She couldn't get the thought out of her head that Liara was probably trying to talk them into a mind orgy like the whore she was... but she has been standing there a long time. _What if they accepted Liara's idea?_

Tali's thought was quickly cut off by Ty sitting up and screaming in pain. He clutched his shoulder and his arm began to bubble. Then, a huge mass moved from his arm down to his hand and began to form a shape. By this time, Liara and the boys had come out of their trance and watched Ty grow a new glaive.

Ty stopped screaming slowly, "Wow, that hurt. Anyone got something to eat?"

Tali got confused quickly, "Uh, you just grew that out of your arm and you're worried about food?"

Ty nodded his head, "Yeah, growing that really took a lot out of me. I need some iron."

Ty got up and walked out of the Medbay. Everyone just began looking around in confusion. Then Chakwas looked up from her data console.

"Well, we need him back in here. Go get him."

Danny and Cody just shook their heads and walked out. Liara thought for a second and then collapsed on the floor. Tali just backed away and left. She didn't want to pick up Liara. She hated that bitch.

Tali exited and saw a gathering of troops around the mess hall table. She walked over to see that Ty had his helmet's visor gone and was gorging himself on three biotic portions. Ty looked from his food up to Tali. He smiled and had some food fall out of his mouth. Then, he went straight back to gorging.

Ty continued to eat and packed on two more regular portions and about a gallon of water. It was when Ty was reaching for a sixth portion that Tali finally had to speak up.

"Do you really need that?"

Ty thought for a moment, "Well, I guess I could share it if you want."

Tali face palmed her mask, "Not what I meant. You've eaten five portions and about a gallon of water. Don't you think you've had enough?"

Ty thought for another second, "Nope, I need more."

Ty began to tear the pack when Tali snatched it out of his hands, "You've eaten enough Ty. I think I'll just bring this with me."

Ty reach out and made a grab for the meal. Tali pulled back the meal with a playful giggle. Ty caught on immediately and gave Tali a devilish look. Tali gave one glance and got lost in his emerald green eyes.

Tali immediately realized what she had just saw, "Your eyes!"

Ty looked confused, "What are they lazy? Do I have cataracts? Do they look gay?"

Tali shook her head in confusion, "No, they're...green."

"Green!?" Ty ran into Shepard's room and Tali heard a scream. This scream was not a man's, but a woman's. Tali decided the best course of action was to head back to the engineering bay and wait for Ty to come to her.

**Ty:**

"Green!?" I didn't know what to think. I had to find a mirror, any mirror. The first one I thought of was that Shepard had one in his room. I took off for the door and it opened revealing a sexy looking human. She was lying on Shepard's bed, surrounded by roses and all the tables had candles lit.

The woman turned around and I saw it was Ashley. She had a condom in its rapper in one hand and the room remote in the other. She flipped on the music and a soft jazz rhythm started to play. She batted her eyes a few times and I had to cut in before the awkwardness rose to level "holy shit".

"Hi, Ash."

Ashley froze, "Uh, hello Ty. How are you?"

"Please don't", Ash let out a loud scream, "… scream. Good, glad you listened to me. Well, I better go before-"

"Holy shit!"

I turned around and saw Shepard staring at Ashley and me, "Oh, good, you're here." I patted Shepard on the shoulder and walked out as fast as possible. I walked all the way to the elevator and hit down. I took the time that I was in the elevator to talk to Drew.

"Alright, what did you do to me?"

My omnitool came to life and spawned my combat drone but this time it was black and had a familiar voice, "We simply gave you eyes that were more efficient for seeing. They will not be blinded by sun but not be useless in the dark."

I brought my hand up and pinched the bridge of my nose, "Okay, but from now on can we talk about changes to my body? I feel I should make the decision to, or not to."

"Very well, we will consult all changes with you. We currently have a project to increase your testosterone output. Should we continue?"

"You're doing WHAT!?"

**Danny:**

Danny and Cody left the Medbay and took the elevator down to the lower deck. Danny had done a lot on Feros and felt he needed a nap. Cody, on the other hand, felt it was a good time for questions.

"So, why is Ty in Corrupt armor?"

Danny began cracking his joints but answered, "Well, we have this power to manipulate certain types of items in Mass Effect. Now, I can transform guns, so", Danny pulled his pistol out and changed it into a shotgun, "I can manipulate guns into other guns."

"Okay, so, why is Ty in Corrupt armor?"

"Ty has the ability to change armors for a short amount of time. He, unfortunately, didn't know that the corrupt armor was alive, and instead of disappearing, it took on a mind of its own and is now bonded with Ty. Any more questions?"

Cody thought for a moment, "What's my power or ability or magic?"

"Well, that's simple, it's... huh, I guess I don't know. Next time we are up in the Medbay, ask Chakwas."

"Why Chakwas?"

"I'll explain later", Danny replied as he exited the elevator. He walked over to Garrus, who was hard at work, doing something. "Hey, Garrus."

Garrus looked back and then down at his console again, "Hey Danny, how's the new sentinel doing?"

Danny shrugged, "Good, how's the stick up your ass?"

"It's coming out slowly.", Garrus replied in a monotone voice.

Danny gave a chuckle, "Good, maybe once it's out we can have a beer."

Garrus took a breath, "That actually sounds good right now." Garrus walked over and pressed a button on the Mako. It opened to revile a compartment full of ice and six packs. Garrus reached in and grabbed a few out. "Well, were should we drink?"

Danny looked around and saw that nobody had a clear view of the back of the Mako. Danny gave Garrus a nod toward the opening and they walked back. Garrus sat and pulled one of his cans off the rings and Danny reopened his bottle of whiskey.

Danny thought for a moment, "What should we drink to?"

Garrus gave a Turians smile, "That Shepard will one day find a god damn sense of humor."

"Here here." Danny raised the bottle to his mouth but was cut off when he heard Ty yelling from the elevator.

**Shepard:**

Shepard held Ashley close, not letting her have any room to move. She wanted to leave and go from the embarrassment earlier. Shepard on the other hand, did not want her to leave. He was so confused by Feros that he needed to be with someone. Someone he could talk too.

"Damn it, Shepard, let me go!"

Shepard hadn't said a word and instead brought her in for a kiss. He held it long and intense. Then, he finally let her break away and... she hit him. Ash came with a straight right to the face, knocking Shepard on to the bed and giving him a worse headache than he already had.

"Not gonna do that again."

"You asked for it. I only do things that I want or allow. I didn't allow you to kiss me."

"Are you at least going to allow me an ice pack?"

Ashley crossed her arms and spoke in a sultry tone, "But ice makes swelling go down."

Shepard just shook his head, "You are more bipolar than a polar bear with a penguin."

Ash sat down on the bed and gave Shepard a big hug, "There's your terrible sense of humor."

Shepard wrapped his arms around her and got on top, "Well, then let's do something I'm not terrible at."

Shepard began to lean in for a kiss when Joker broke in, "Attention, all ground crew to the comm room. Commander needs to debrief everyone."

"Goddamn, cock blocking, son of a bitch!"

**Please give me some feedback(review). I want to make sure I'm getting better and not worse.**

**Expect updates on Fridays.  
**


	18. Date Night

**Hello again everyone, its Starspike7 with another chapter of Users coming at you. I hope you like this chapter, it was a fun one to write even though it gave me a headache planning it out. Give some feedback as to where you stand on this chapter love it, hate it, or constructive criticism. It all helps.  
**

**On a side note, those who don't have me on their author alerts or Favorites will probably want to check out my newest fic, Loosing Humanity. Leave a review to tell me if your interested.  
**

**Last but not least the pole, Ty, Danny, and Shepard are tied with two votes each. Tali is ahead by three votes and Cody has zero. **

**Now on to the story!  
**

**ROAD HOUSE!  
**

**After that...  
**

**Cody:**

Cody stood by the elevator after Danny left him. Not that he felt awkward it was just that he had only seen these people through a TV screen. Real life was different, everyone had so many different emotions compared to what they would say on screen. Cody began thinking of what he could say to any of them. That was when Ty came in.

"You're doing what?!"

Cody and everyone else in the bay turned and looked at Ty. He looked back at all the stares he was being given and recomposed himself. He exited the elevator and walked over to Cody, his little drone following him the whole time.

"Hey, Cody, how's Mass Effect going for you?"

Cody thought for a moment and smiled, "From the looks of Ashley and Liara, I'd have to say Mass Erect."

Ty face palmed and shook his head, "That wasn't funny at all."

Cody just shrugged, "I thought it was."

"That's cause you made the joke and-"

Ty was cut off when Joker came over the intercom, "Attention all crew to the debrief room. Commander needs to debrief everyone." That was followed by a loud yelling from Shepard's room.

Ty looked over at Cody and nodded into the elevator, "Well, off to the debriefing room."

Ty and Cody stepped in the elevator. Cody immediately went to push the button and Ty stopped him by grabbing his collar and yanking him back.

"Down boy, we need to let everyone get on."

Wrex and Tali came on board first; Tali went over and stood by Ty. Wrex just walked over and went to press the button up. Cody immediately thought of what Ty did and he tapped Wrex on the shoulder.

"Don't we need to wait for everyone else?"

Wrex just sneered at Cody, "I don't wait."

Cody looked over at Ty who looked at Cody and shook his head. Cody thought for a moment and decided to ignore Ty and he just went with it.

"That's what she said."

Wrex gave a look of confusion, "You calling me a woman?"

Cody became confused now, "What? No, it's a joke."

"So you're calling me a joke."

Cody laughed a little, "Well no I'm-"

Wrex picked Cody up and slammed him against the wall of the elevator, "I ought to rip your quad off for that."

Wrex began to glare and got closer to Cody. Wrex had a look of blood lust in his eyes. HE pulled his head back and got ready to head-butt Cody. Wrex thrusted his head forward and electrical barrier came between him and Cody's face.

Cody looked over and saw Ty with an omnitazer out, "Cool it Wrex, we don't need to have a short elevator ride turn into a blood bath."

Wrex looked at Ty and then to Cody, "You shouldn't fight your friends battles because they might not fight yours."

With that the elevator dinged and opened. Everyone exited and headed for the comm room. Cody just followed the group after he got off. Once inside, everyone took their designated seats. The only one who was standing was Ty. He stood over by Tali's chair and was moving his head side to side like he was listening to music.

Cody decided to take a seat in one of the chairs and leaned back. That's when Shepard walked in.

**Shepard:**

Shepard stepped into the comm room, his head ache worsened from movement and Ashley's punch. All the pain made him not in the mood for what he saw next. He looked over and saw the new User Cody sitting in his chair. Under normal circumstances, Shepard would have made some joke about someone in his seat but now. He wanted to sit down.

Shepard walked over and tapped Cody on the shoulder. Cody looked up and Shepard motioned for Cody to get out. Cody gave a look like he didn't understand. Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. Then, he calmly reached down and picked Cody out of his seat and set him on the ground. Then, Shepard sat down and waited.

Soon everyone except Garrus and Danny had arrived. They waited a whole thirty minutes for the two to get here. Finally, they did but Garrus was holding Danny up and the both of them were laughing there asses off.

"Garrus, why the hell are you late?"

Garrus pointed between the two of them, "Me and sir drinks a lot decided that last mission needs a drink to follow."

Danny looked up and smiled, "Don't forget that we got that stick out your ass."

Shepard clenched his fist and his teeth, "Will you two please sit down?"

Danny squinted in Shepard's direction, "Now, if only we could get the stick out of yours."

Shepard just let out a huff of air and leaned back in his seat. Garrus and Danny laughed a bit more before Garrus dropped Danny in the middle of the floor and stumbled over to his seat. After he sat down and swallowed his throw up. Shepard began speaking while rubbing his temples.

"Okay, so I am about to file my report for the council. Would anyone like to add anything to the form?"

Ty raised his hand and Shepard gave him a nod, "What is the highlight of the mission? Like the most in your face thing?"

Shepard gave a look at his device, "That would be when Saren showed up."

Ty's eyes grew wide and then he stood from leaning on the rail and left.

**Ty:**

I had to keep myself from running down the hall. Saren was on Feros. What was Chakwas thinking? That wasn't supposed to happen.

I got to the medbay doors and hit the button. The doors parted and then closed quickly. I got confused and hit the button again. This time the doors didn't even open.

I looked at the door and then my hand. I put it to the door and closed my eyes. I saw matrix code flashing by lightning fast and I could barely read any of it. I just thought about what I was looking for and the code froze. The area that was infected lit up red. I focused of fixing it and the numbers jumbled together and then dispersed into their correct places.

I opened my eyes and the door was open. I stepped inside to see Chakwas working at her terminal. She glanced up at me and then looked back down at her desk.

"What is it you need Ty?"

I gave her a glare and then spoke, "Why was Saren on Feros?"

Chakwas's head shot up and her eyes grew wide, "He was where?"

I pointed back down the hall, "I just finished my chat with Shepard and found out that Saren was on Feros."

Chakwas looked back down at her desk and began opening new windows on her computer and typing at lightning speed, "I will look into that but while I am, I need you gone."

I intensified my glare, "That's not going to happen."

My words meant nothing to her as I floated up in the air and flew out the door and landed on… no body. I stood up and brushed myself off, smiling because maybe this ment that my luck was changing and I wasn't going to be a complete cluts from here on in.

I turned around and immediately ran into Tali. I knocked her over and I fell on top of her.

"Well, fate you play a trick on me again."

Tali sounded like she was working to breath and I rolled off her, "Thanks, another minute and you would have crushed me."

I just lie next to her and spoke, "So why are you down here?"

She got up as she explained, "Well, you ran off and I came after you."

I thought about it for a moment, "Understandable, but did Shepard let you?"

"Shepard actually stayed behind and the crew wanted to watch him and the council go at it."

I just nodded my head, "I would too if I stayed up there but something about Saren has got me on edge."

Tali's eyes brightened up behind her mask and she spoke in a more flirtatious tone, "I hope that hasn't got you so on edge you forgot about our date tonight?"

I just bit my lower lip, "Date, uh, no of course not. Don't be silly. What did I say we would do again?"

Tali shook her head, "You didn't say. Just said that you would let it be a surprise."

I smiled and that did sound like something I would say but it was odd, "When did I say this again?"

Tali looked off to the side and began playing with her hands, "Um, when we talked about me be being you girlfriend and all."

Bingo! I had caught her lying, but then again. She has to get away with it.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry. I have an idea. Just wait and I'll get you when it's ready."

**Tali:**

Tali went back to work and well… worked. She had to finish calibrating the drive cores exhaust vents and restructuring the power cell. She could care less about the drive core and she cared more about what Ty was going to plan.

Sure she had made up a lie to get an actual date but was that so bad? She liked him sure but she didn't know if she loved him. That's what she wanted to find out.

She ended up finishing her work and eating dinner. She waited one more hour but Ty never showed up. In Fact no one had ever seen him since the debrief. He just vanished from the Normandy.

Tali began making up scenarios that could have happened. She got all the way from getting spaced by Shepard to being eaten by Wrex. Eventually, she decided to call it a night and headed off to bed with the rest of the crew.

She had just lay down and started to drift off when her pod moved forward and back to the walkway. She didn't know what was happening because no one could move her pod but her because she had the control panel inside and Joker up in the cockpit.

Once her pod finally came to the walkway, she saw Ty concentrating hard. When she finally came to the walkway and the pod opened up, he opened his eyes. Yep, they were still green.

Tali stepped out of her pod and looked over at Ty, "Is there a real reason you woke me up or are you not able to stand without my charming personality because that's gone and I babble when I am tired with the whole-"

Ty took her hand and lead her down the walkway and up to the comm room. He opened up the doors and took her inside. From there she saw two seats and the viewing screen had some movie title on it.

"Back to the Future?"

She looked at Ty who had the biggest smile on his face, "I thought you would like this movie. Not only is it my favorite but it also has a sweet car."

Tali had no idea what he meant until they sat down and watched it. She found herself intruiged by the man named Doc and how he made a time traveling car. She was gripping her seat when he ran away from Biff on a, what did Ty call it, skateboard. She even laughed hard enough to wake the whole ship when the main character made out with his mom.

By the end, Tali had pulled Ty close and was leaning on his shoulder, "That movie was amazing. Did it really happen?"

Ty chuckled a little, "No, unfortunately, time travel was not invented in the eighties."

Tali felt a little let down by that information, "Okay, but one more question."

"Okay, shoot."

"Why eighty-eight, miles per hour?"

**Remember to checkout Loosing Humanity and leave a review.**

**Same here, tell me what you thought of this chapter.**

**Expect updates on Fridays.  
**


	19. Danny vs Squirrel

**Here is the newest chapter of Users. Sorry it took so long but I have trouble motivating myself. That, on top of no reviews just made this chapter take a backseat to the new story I'm doing with my friend JustAFerret. If you want to read it, it's called K'Vash's Legend. Remember, the more reviews equals the faster updates.**

**Danny:**

Danny got up from sleeping in Shepard's chair. Never before did he have a crick in his neck like he did now. The pain was enough that when he adjusted his head it woke him up quick. Now he was up and making his way to the dining hall.

The door opened and everyone was hard at work, except Shepard. He was lying with his head down on the table and had a cup of coffee in his hand. Danny walked over and took the seat across form Shepard.

"How's it going Shepard?"

Shepard raised his head and Danny saw he was wearing sunglasses, "I don't think this migraine is getting any better."

Danny sat back in his chair and reached into his pocket, "Well, you know what helps me when I feel pain?"

Shepard waved his hand, "I can't drink any alcohol. I'm on duty."

Danny gave a laugh and pulled out his scotch he stole from Alenko, "Not with that terrible of a migraine. Here, it will help."

Shepard reached out and took the bottle from Danny, "Isn't this Kaiden's?"

Danny smiled mischievously, "I don't see a name on that, do you?"

Shepard shrugged and put the bottle to his lips. He tilted back and began guzzling the alcohol. Danny watched with a smile that quickly dissipated when he realized that Shepard had just drunk half the bottle and didn't stop. The bottle was quickly finished and Shepard set it down with a smile, "Now that felt good."

Danny opened his mouth to yell about all the alcohol being gone when Shepard passed out and smashed his head into the table. Danny just sighed and grabbed the coffee cup out of Shepard's hand. If he didn't have alcohol, he could at least have coffee.

Danny sat back and drank the cup thinking about what got him into the Universe of Mass Effect. He had to guess it started with getting off the plane in Lewis Town. It was a small town in Washington. Danny was honestly glad he had gotten in the GWU instead of sitting in the cesspool of a town.

Sadly, he was back in the city and stuck with everyone else. Now the first thing he did was look at how far he could get out. Danny knew Ty was living in Moscow, Idaho going to the U of I so that meant Danny had an excuse to leave. The only problem was how to get from Lewis Town to Moscow.

Danny's mind quickly raced for a solution to the problem that had been presented. Now, in all of Danny's life he learned two very important lessons. One: the girl always gets what she wants. Two: Alcohol could solve any problem.

That's when Danny came up with an idea; he could drink so much alcohol that he would pass out and… that was a terrible idea. The only other answer was to barrow his parents' truck. So, after a long dinner and some convincing, Danny finally got the truck. He just had to wait till the next day to get it.

Danny got up the next day and got in the truck. He started up and took off down the road. After several cop chases, two near catastrophic collisions, and three flattened snakes, Danny finally made it to Ty's apartment. Danny walked up and got to Ty's door when he realized something, he forgot Cody. Danny pulled out his phone and sent a quick text.

Danny finished the text and knocked on Ty's door. Nothing happened for a while, Danny thought Ty wasn't home but when he put his ear to the door he heard Ty's voice and a few other people. Danny knew Ty was in there now and he needed to find a way in. He walked down to the bottom of the apartment complex and saw a tree branch heading right to Ty's window.

Danny began climbing the tree without a second thought. Though, in this case a second thought was needed after numerous branches broke and Danny got into a fight with a squirrel. Danny had reached inside a nook in the tree and it had turned out that the squirrel had stored its nuts there.

The squirrel jumped out of the hole and began tearing and scratching at Danny's hands. Danny tried to bat it away but it was too quick and climbed his arm up to his face. It began scratching and clawing at his ears.

Danny brought his arm up and tried to knock it off his head but it used this as an opportunity to jump down his sleeve and attack him more. Danny began jittering as the squirrel moved around. This caused the branch that he was on to break and Danny hit every branch on the way down. Each one broke under his weight.

Danny hit the ground with a thud. As he was getting up the squirrel bolted from his shirt and ran up the tree. It stopped at its hollow and looked down at Danny. The squirrel gave a nod and walked back into its lair with its head held high.

Danny groaned and rubbed the back of his head where he had fallen. It hurt but his determination to get up there was greater than pain. Danny began climbing the tree again and when he got to the nook, he reached in and yanked the little bastard out. Danny had him by the tail; the squirrel wasn't moving at all.

Danny wasn't sure if it was dead or just playing possum. Danny got real close and the squirrel sprang forth and bit Danny on the nose. Danny screamed and pulled the squirrel off. He then chucked it outward and it landed in the tree next to the one he was in.

Danny began to haul ass as the squirrel quickly made its way to him. Danny was climbing from branch to branch and in through Ty's window. He turned and saw the squirrel was on the branch and about to leap at him. Danny quickly grabbed the window and closed it just in time to see the squirrel hit the window and fall all the way to the ground.

Danny made his way to the couch and sat down. That was the third squirrel to attack him this week. He didn't know why but they all get a bead on him and he suddenly has to run like hell. Danny hated squirrels almost as much as he hated cats.

Danny was brought out of his thoughts when he saw that ME was open on Ty's TV screen. Danny wondered where Ty was. The Danny saw Ty on screen. Danny stood up and got close to the TV, he pressed his face to it and was met with a shock that sent him over the top of the couch and into the kitchen.

Danny got up and walked back to the couch; he sat down and looked at Ty's controller. The X button was glowing. Seeing the X button like that, Danny had the urge to press a button. He reached over and pressed it. Then, he got to here.

Danny took a long drag from his coffee and gave a nod, "Yep, pressing random buttons never goes wrong."

Danny drank the last of his coffee and got up from the table. He was wondering where Ty and Cody were. Danny figured that Cody was up in the cockpit. Even if he wasn't, Danny would get a chance to troll Joker again and that was always fun.

Danny began to walk away when one of the sleep pods opened up. He looked back and saw Ty stepping out. Danny was about to think nothing of it when Tali stepped out as well. A smile came to Danny's lips.

Danny jumped behind the mid-wall in the dining hall. He waited for Tali to walk passed and then jumped on Ty. He grabbed him and pulled him into Shepard's room, locking the door behind them.

Ty jumped up, "Oh, shit, you're not going to rape me?"

Danny gave a laugh and then decked Ty, "What the hell? I didn't know you were sleeping with Tali?"

Ty waved off Danny, "No, no, she fell asleep last night and I carried her to her pod. I set he in there and accidentally hit the close button."

Danny stifled a laugh, "Smooth Ty, real smooth."

Ty shook his head and looked away, "Yeah, well. Go fuck yourself."

Danny took the open chair, "So, how'd the date go?"

Ty rolled his eyes, "I put Back to the Future on in the comm room."

Danny was confused by this, "Wait, how?"

"I have it down loaded to my Xbox. It took some working but I managed to play it through the screen in the comm room. Like I said."

"That's awesome, why didn't I think of that?"

Ty smiled, "Because dip shit, you perceive this as real."

Danny opened his mouth to reply when there was a knock at the door. Danny and Ty looked at each other and Ty unlocked it. The door opened and revealed Liara.

"Ty, Danny, I need you to come with me right away."

Ty just began walking and Danny quickly followed. The three of them made their way over to the medbay where they saw Shepard laying on a hospital bed. Shepard was groaning and Chakwas was looking very very very angry.

"Would someone like to tell me how Shepard got alcohol poisoning?"

Everyone in the medbay looked at Danny. Danny put his hands up in defense but quickly knew he was defeated, "Alright, I gave him my bottle of scotch but he was the one who downed the whole thing in one drink!"

Ty smacked Danny in the back of the head and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Is this a bad thing?"

Chakwas was clenching her teeth, "Yes, this is. We are headed for an asteroid heading for a human planet. Shepard was supposed to land and stop it. Now what do we do?"

Danny raised his hand, Chakwas just face palmed, "Yes Danny?"

"Ty could do it."

Ty smacked Danny in the back of the head again, "What the hell are you talking about? I just failed at that on Feros."

Danny's plan quickly formulated, "No, you can do it. You have a chance to try again. You need to take this chance."

Ty shook his head, "No way!"

Danny pulled Ty over and whispered in his ear, "You need to do this; I need you to be in charge of a separate squad on Virmire."

Ty's eyes widened and he seemed to get Danny's plan, "I'll do it, on one condition."

Chakwas gave a wave, "What is it?"

Ty looked at Danny, "Only Danny, Cody, and I go down."

Chakwas looked at Ty and gave a devilish smile, "I'm okay with that."

Liara on the other hand was not, "No, you need more people. Take me and maybe Wrex. Whatever is down there warrant's it."

Ty looked over at Chakwas and gave the same smile, "I'm okay with it."

Chakwas was about to open her mouth when Joker came over the intercom, "ETA thirty minutes to asteroid. Boarding party ready yourselves."

**Wow, a whole chapter dedicated to Danny. That's what happens when your number one on the voting list and all. By the way, have you ever wanted to read something from the person who inspired Danny? If so then check out A New Frontier. Or go to my favorites.**

**ROAD HOUSE!**


	20. Nock Nock Who's there? SAMUS!

**Hey, Users is up once again and to answer some questions from the fan mail department.**

**Question 1: Are you going to add any more Users?**

**Answer 1: No, the Users are like the three amigos. There are three… at least in the first book.**

**Question 2: Will there be a second book and when will it come out?**

**Answer 2: Yes, on December 23.**

**Question 3: Why didn't you update last week?**

**Answer 3: I did. I put out an updated chapter one. The beginning has been extended on and expanded. If you checked my page, I keep it updated on what the latest chapter is going to be.**

**That's it for questions. Now, I would just like to thank each and every reader. Whether you came in the beginning or just entered with a later chapter update. Thank you, I was ready to quit by chapter 3 but you guys gave me the inspiration to keep going. My only request is that you keep reading and tell me if you don't think a chapter is up to par with the other or if it just blew your mind, it has been a few chapters since I have gotten feedback so if you could just take a second after your done reading to review you would have my thanks. Without further a due, CHAPTER 20!**

**Cody:**

Cody clenched his teeth as the Mako fell toward the asteroid at a rapid speed. He was gripping the edge of his seat and looked out the window as the ground rushed to meet them. Cody looked from the window to Liara who was acting the same way he was. Then, he saw Wrex with his arms crossed and eyes closed, keeping a cool head.

Cody looked over to Danny who was trying to get a hold on the new bottle of scotch he had stolen from Kaiden. Cody saw the bottle fly from Danny's reach over to Ty who was raising his arms having the time of his life. _Crazy bastard always loved rollercoasters._

Cody watched Ty's hands quickly fly to the key board and began hitting buttons. This caused their landing to slow and they hit the ground with a thud. After the came to a full stop, Ty turned to the group.

"Alright boys and girl, how are we going to do this?"

Cody raised his hand and began to speak, "I suggest Liara gets on her knees and we each pick a-"

Wrex punched Cody in the stomach, "Shut it weakling, as for a plan… we should stick together. If we get split up, things will go wrong. Together, we will be more equipped to handle situations we get ourselves into."

Everyone stared at Wrex and Danny spoke first, "Holly shit, Wrex has a brain."

Wrex gave a chuckle, "I also have a fist. Would you like to have an encounter to prove that?"

Ty stood up and everyone went silent, "Alright, this isn't going to be a repeat of last time for two reasons. One, we all are prepared and two-"

"You have me to watch your back instead of a scrawny Turian."

"Shut it Wrex, two because we have him", Ty pointed to Cody.

Cody scratched his head, "Uh, why am I a reason for success?"

Ty pinched the bridge of his nose, "Because you are the only one of us that can use a sniper."

Cody looked on the back of the onyx armor he wore and saw the sniper. Then he looked to everyone else and saw that they all had one to. "Uh, you all have snipers."

Ty sat back in his seat and began driving, "We can't use them properly, you are the only soldier here. I am an engineer but can use assault rifles, Danny is a sentinel and can do the same as me, Wrex is a Vanguard, and Liara is an adept. None of us have the proper training like you do."

Cody sat back in his seat and wondered what Ty's plan would be. He let his other senses null and focused on hearing. He heard the roar of the engine and the wheels as they crushed rocks beneath them. He continued to listen until he heard Ty talking to someone. Cody focused on Ty's voice and tried to make out what was going on.

"No, I am sure this will work… we have Liara and Wrex for back up… Oh, bring that up… our chances are how low… wow, that's not good… you think?... Okay, sounds good to me."

It took Cody a second to realize it but Ty was talking to his armor. He called the thing Andrew. Whatever it was called it gave Cody an uneasy feeling. Something living inside your head just didn't seem right.

Cody had to push the thought out of his head as he clutched the seat for dear life. The Mako was going up a ninety degree cliff and Cody almost fell from his seat. The climb took forever and was slow.

They got to the top and Ty looked back at Cody, "Alright, this is your get off point."

Cody breathed a sigh of relief and began to get up but stopped. He looked down at his hands and saw they were white knuckled and gripping the seat. Cody looked up to Ty and smiled, Ty shook his head.

"Wrex, would you-"

Ty was cut off as Wrex reached over and yanked Cody's hands free. Ty gave a nod to Wrex and then looked over to Cody. Cody got up walked over to the door. He looked back at Ty, "I hope you know what you're doing."

**Danny:**

Danny sat in the back of the Mako ready with his rifle. Ty said the plan was to infiltrate the base as fast and loud as possible. The more people they took out at this engine the less at the next ones.

Suddenly the Mako hit a bump and flew into the air. Ty looked back and gave Danny a nod. Danny opened the back of the Mako and jumped out in midair. He fell slowly and took pot shots at the batarian forces as he did.

Danny hit the ground and things got loud, the Mako was swerving and plowing through the forces but it was up to Danny to make some noise. Danny pulled out his pistol and gave a moment of thought. Once he decided on the right weapon he was off.

Danny ran toward a group of batarians with his new gravibomb pointed at the enemy. He fired one shot and blew the forces away. Unfortunately, the gravibomb had a side effect. The force from the blast knocked him off his feet and allowed the remaining forces to get some shots in on him.

Danny's shields broke and he was defenseless. The area he was in had no cover on top of the Mako being gone. Danny readied himself to be killed when batarians began dropping like flies. _Sniper support to save the day._

With the help of Cody, Danny was able to take care of the remaining forces and called Ty, "Hey, what happened to you guys?"

Ty came in with some static, "I figured that you and Cody could handle those guys. So, I dropped Liara and Wrex off at another engine. I'll be back in a second."

"Shit, you change plans like my old girl changed her ringtones. A lot."

"Well, fuck off. We need to do this quick."

Danny smiled for a second, "Got plans with Tali again?"

"Like I said, fuck off."

Danny threw his weapon on his back and walked over to the door of the engine compound. He got there and was suddenly over taken by a wave of exhaustion. Danny leaned against the door and slid down until he was sitting. The gravibomb took more out of him than he figured.

Danny just sat back and rested for a moment when he heard a humming coming from behind the door. Danny got up and hit the button to open hit. He pulled his assault rifle up and prepared to fire but stopped when he saw something that didn't belong.

Red and orange armor? Blue T for a face? A cannon for an arm? "Samus?"

That was the only word that Danny spoke as a blast hit him square in the chest sending him flying backwards. Danny landed on his back and was dazed for a moment. Once his eyes reset he looked up and saw Samus walking toward him.

Danny quickly got up and reached for the gravibomb. When he didn't feel anything he looked back and saw it lying on the ground about ten feet away. Danny quickly ran over and dived to grab it. Once it was in his hand he turned and took a shot at Samus.

Samus saw the shot coming and jumped into the air. She was immediately propelled by the shot and morphed into her ball form. She then adjusted in the air and came right down on Danny.

Danny dodged backward and Samus missed him by mere inches. Danny thought he had a chance to attack when the ball bounce and nailed him in the chest. Danny flew once again backwards and prepared to hit the ground.

When he didn't hit ground but instead adjusted course he opened his eyes. He saw Ty holding him by his collar and he looked over to Samus. She was stuck to the front of the Mako as it rammed into the engine complex.

Danny looked to Ty to say something but he couldn't say anything. He couldn't even breath. Danny realized that he had a suit puncture and was losing air. Danny grabbed Ty's shoulder and shook it hard. They hit ground and Ty looked over at Danny and put his hand to Danny's helmet.

Danny felt a chill was over him followed by the ability to breath, "Ty! What the hell is Samus doing here?"

Ty shook his head, "I don't know but she is dead now and-"

Ty cut himself off when he saw the Mako move away from the wall. Ty and Danny saw Samus stumble out from behind it with her suit leaking air and damaged. She put her hand on her helmet and ripped it off.

Danny smiled, "Ha, she took off her helmet. Now, she can't breath!"

The rest of Samus's armor fell off and she stood at the other end of the field in her blue jump suit. Danny thought she would fall over dead any second but gaped in awe when she took a deep breath and then ran toward them.

**Ty:**

I stood my ground as Samus came barreling toward us. I held my ground and Danny just passed out. There was no way I could let Samus get close to him. I cracked my neck and then took off toward her.

It was a bad idea I admit it, she was a trained mercenary. I was a guy that was down on his luck and stuck in college. Obviously she had the upper hand.

I pulled my glaive off my back and tossed it at her. She dodged it and gave it a kick as it was passing her. I saw the glaive fly off into the blackness of space and looked back in time to see Samus pull her paralyzer out.

She hit me with a charged shot and I couldn't move. I fell to the ground and felt a surge of electricity leave my body. Once my eyes refocused, I was lifted in to the air. I grabbed the hand that was choking me and tried to pull it off but Samus was to strong.

I began to feel strangulation setting in and my head began to feel light. I started losing my senses one by one, slowly dulling to the point of death. My eyes began to roll up when Samus got shot through the arm.

She dropped me and looked up the cliff. While she was distracted, I gave her a shot to the kidneys and got up. She got up quickly and we began fist fighting. I just let go and felt Drew take over.

"Ty, we have spotted several weaknesses in Samus's form. Permission to exploit?"

"Granted."

**Well, that's it for this week. Next chapter will come out in two weeks on Friday the 21****st****. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you could please take a second to just leave a review for me I would really appreciate it. I want to make it to 36 reviews by the 21****st****.**

** Real quick, I wanted to suggest a really good fic for you guys. If you haven't read Dark Jewel by Sergius the Great, check it out. It is a good laugh and put's a spin on the usual ME 2. Give it a look see and tell him what you think.  
**


	21. Revitalized

**Here is Users Chapter 21 redone. The original part didn't carry over so I have to upload this version instead.**

**Now, without further due, here to continue on for two more books and a movie (not), USERS.**

**Ty:**

Drew knocked Samus's left arm to the side and this allowed him to give her a shot to the kidney. She clenched in pain and brought up her tazer up to blast me. The Drew brought my hand up and smacked the gun into the air.

Samus was stunned and Drew made a jump for the tazer. Our jump was countered as Samus grabbed my leg and yanked us to the ground. We hit hard and she stood over us with her gun pointed at my head. That's when Drew came in.

"Ty? We need help."

I groaned, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"We suggest you get up. Enemy has retrieved her weapon."

I just laid on the ground, dazed from the blow I took while jumping for the tazer. Samus came over and put her right foot on my chest. She put her tazer to my head and smiled.

She spoke in a cocky tone, "Any last words, User?"

"Well, a few actually. One, Holly shit you talked. And two, I think I would prefer you on the bottom."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "What?"

Before she could react, I grabbed her leg and rolled. Using leverage, I put her on the ground and got on top of her. She countered by giving me a zap from her tazer which sent me off. I flew off her and onto the ground.

I quickly got up and saw her standing across from me. She just smiled and began to glow; before I could figure out what it was she activated her smash and her armor reformed around her.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I heard from behind her.

She turned around to Danny, he was smiling holding a rocket launcher. He fired a shot and Samus went into ball form to dodge. Danny countered with another shot from the launcher. This one hit Samus and sent her rolling back into the engine complex.

Danny ran over and helped me up, "Good job holding her off. I thought you would get your ass kicked way worse."

I just face palmed, "Okay, how many shots do you have left?"

Danny thought for a moment, "Have you played borderlands 2 yet."

"No."

Danny gave a smile and took off toward the complex, "Well, it's a Tediore. You will see what that means."

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Okay, let's just go."

We quickly ran over to the building and took sides. I looked over inside and saw it was full of smoke from Danny's rocket. I saw Danny ready his launch and give me a nod. I almost face palmed when I realized I had my weapons on my back to. They would have been useful holding off Samus.

I grabbed my assault rifle and shouldered it. I gave Danny a count down with my fingers. Three, two, one, we rushed in and didn't see a sign of Samus. What we did see was a ball form shaped hole in the wall and dead Batarians everywhere.

I stepped to the side and crouched, "Alright, Cody, do you read me?"

Cody came in frantically, "Dude, that was Samus. Pretty sick shit. Do you think we can beat her or are we doomed?"

I took a deep breath and a stoic tone, "We can beat her, if we work together. Now, I want you to reposition yourself and watch for her. She might sneak out while we are in here."

Cody chuckled a little bit, "After the ass beating she handed you guys, I would be more scared that she would take you out inside where I can't cover your ass."

My eye twitched, "Cody, did I ask you opinion? Now, reposition yourself."

It was at this time that the habits I had begun to nag at me. Like, after that conversation I would be running my hand through my hair or rubbing my temples. I took a second and pushed it out of my mind. I pulled up the comm again and called Wrex and Liara.

"Wrex, big guy, how are you doing?"

I heard Wrex's gruff voice come over the comm, "We have finished up here. Some woman is trying to contact us, should I answer her?"

I thought for a moment, "Yeah, go ahead and answer is. Might be a good idea to find out all we can."

Wrex just answered quickly, "Got it."

I readied me rifle and gave Danny another count down. Three… two… one!

**Danny:**

Danny leaped into the room and was hit with a blast from Samus's arm cannon. She had been camping the side of the hole, waiting for them to come through. Danny got up and brought his launcher to face her. He fired one shot, which knocked her back.

Danny let a slight grin come to his mouth as Samus aimed at him. She fired and he dodged to the side and threw his launcher at her. It fired off and damaged her cannon arm. She looked down at it long enough for Ty to jump into the room and take cover.

Danny reached back and pulled his shotgun off his back. Whatever happened next, it was going to be close range.

Samus managed to sneak to Danny's cover and smash her arm through it. She then grabbed Danny and pulled him through the hole she made. This however, distracted her long enough for Ty to sneak around and shoot her in the back.

Samus immediately electrified and dropped to the ground. Ty just looked at her and Danny couldn't help but laugh. It was that easy? After all they had been through?

Ty just looked at her with him, "Ya'know, we still have an asteroid hurtling toward the human colony."

Danny just smacked himself fin the head, "Oh yeah."

**Yeah it is a short chapter but this is where I decided to cut it. Remember, you are a writer for your own reasons. One of them, shouldn't be to impress other authors.**


	22. No Rest for the User

**Hey, chapter 22 is here and has that new chapter smell. I hope you enjoy it and remember, if it is important enough to tell me. Send it in a PM (it is also easier for those of you who don't want to be associated with an SI). I don't want reviews and I don't need them. Now sit back and chill because chapter 22 is coming at you.**

**Oh, and I thought I'd take this time to say I'm having a special poll. Everyone who has time, go onto my profile page and check it out. I have put several ways this story can possible end. Vote on which you think will be the real ending. It is a private poll and will not show your name to anyone.  
**

**Cody:**

Cody sat on his new vantage point with his cross hairs pointed at the door. He continued to watch and scan for any movement. He almost fired a shot when he heard a long whine followed by the engine dying. Cody figured it was time to go and holstered his rifle. He stood and began traversing the rocky cliff

He stood up and walked over to his original position, watching the battle ground the whole time. He didn't know why but it was like battle instincts were now programmed into his brain. He was sharper, faster, and knew how to react. He would have to talk to the guys about this later but he was scared.

The game was doing something to him. He had been hypnotized in a show one time and this felt exactly like that. He was for better or worse a killing machine and he reacted without thinking. Only difference is that this time, there was no key word to set him off. He would just go into kick ass mode if anything went wrong. Not a bad thing but what if he couldn't turn it off? What if he became a force of destruction?

Cody shivered from the cold of space and the thought of being a monster. It was hard but he just pushed the thought out of his head and continued over the cliff. Rocks were giving way under his feet and the distance he crossed in his newly dubbed "Badass" mode was farther than he thought.

When Cody reached the half way to the point, he began to hear rocks crackling and saw pebbles shifting. He turned around and grabbed frantically at the rocks to try and stop himself but had no luck. He slid all the way to the bottom of the canyon and had no way to rescale the rocks. Cody face palmed and pulled Ty up on the comm.

"Hey, Ty?"

Ty came over sounding pleased with himself, "Hey, Cody, what do you need?"

Cody spoke dejectedly, "I kind of, fell down the cliff. I'm at the bottom of the canyon, on your level."

Ty kept a flat tone, "I want you to know that I am face palming right now. That's how bad you failed, a face palm over a radio frequency. Okay, walk over to the facility, we will wait for you."

Cody took a deep breath and began walking toward the complex. It took him about five minutes to cover the distance to the engine and was a much smoother walk then on the cliff. He got to the door and saw a gaping hole in the wall.

Cody just yelled in to the building, "Hey guys, I'm here."

Nobody answered.

Cody felt his mouth get dry, "Guys?"

Dead quiet.

Cody crept into the building and up to the hole. He hid by the edge and peaked over to see what was happening. What he saw was a figure in orange and red armor.

Cody jumped back and grabbed his pistol, "Holy mother of Frank Newgen."

He was about to pull the trigger when the armor dropped and Ty and Danny were laughing behind it. Danny was laughing so hard he tripped over the armor and fell to the ground. Ty couldn't even move holding his stomach and a crate near him.

Cody felt his cheeks heat up, "Shut the fuck up guys."

"We didn't say anything", Ty and Danny both spoke at the same time.

Cody let them go for a few more minutes, making him feel like a fool for the instincts. Eventually they quit but said nothing as they climbed through the hole and out of the complex.

**Danny:**

Danny and the guys exited the facility and saw the Mako. The front was smashed in where Samus had been but other than that, it was fine. Danny hit the button and opened that back, he was about to step on the ramp when Ty spoke.

"I don't think the Mako is really drivable in this condition."

Danny just waved at his comment, "Please, this is the Mako. Has it ever been ruined in run throughs?"

Ty walked over to the front, "Yeah, it can explode if we take too much damage."

Danny rolled his eyes at Ty's comment, "Fine, fix it. You are our engineer right?"

"That's what I'm doing dip shit." Ty kneeled in front of the Mako and began applying omnigel. Danny had other plans; he crawled into the Mako and looked for his bottle of scotch. The Mako was basically empty besides the seats and controls, yet he couldn't find the damn bottle. He checked under every seat and the cargo storage but found nothing.

He finally gave up and sat in the driver's seat while Ty did his work. Danny adjusted the controls for the seat so he could lean back and relax. He felt like Ty was taking forever and that was a good thing. He was completely exhausted from the last two weapon morphs. He figured even one and he would be out for the rest of the mission.

The launcher was way worse than the Spartan Laser from Feros. On Feros, he was oblivious to how the transformations were affecting him, but now he knew what it could do and he was really feeling the burn. He was finding himself over thinking each transformation. Trying to calculate how they would drain him.

Danny continued to relax and let himself fall asleep. He didn't know how long but he was woken up by Ty smacking him in the face, "C'mon Danny, we have to go."

Danny groaned and got up, he felt even more drained than when he fell asleep. The adrenaline that was coursing through him was running out. He walked over and sat in the third seat back across from Cody. Danny was letting himself drift off again when he snapped up after a loud power cord rang through the cabin.

Danny searched for the cause and picked out that it was coming from the speakers in the Mako. Danny thought something was happening but then he heard the opening to TNT start playing and he knew what had happened. Ty always had to have AC/DC play when he was in the Mako, probably figured some hard rock was going to keep Danny awake. Danny sat back in his chair and huffed, he hated when Ty was right.

The Mako ride was quick and Ty stayed on the level terrain as much as possible. They never really hit anything like you would in the game. They all knew that if they drove it regularly, lunch would come back for seconds. The unspoken rule was to stay on the flattest terrain possible.

They arrived at the second engine and stopped a hundred yards away from the complex. Danny didn't get why and climbed up to Ty, "Why aren't we going forward?"

Ty just rolled his eyes, "There is mine field in front of us."

Danny furrowed his eyebrows, "There is no mine field in front of us."

"Warning: blast cap field directly ahead", the on board navigation spoke.

Ty looked at Danny with an annoying smirk, "Win."

Danny just walked back to his seat, "Shut up."

**Ty:**

Liara and Wrex got back to the Mako and we were off to the final engine. They got in about the time that Danny had taken his seat and buckled in. Now, we were all headed for the final engine. I had to admit that this was exceedingly better than Feros. The only trouble we had was Samus and that wasn't too hard to take care of. Now, I just had to hope and pray that nothing more difficult came our way.

I travelled quickly to the complex and was greeted with cannon fire from turrets placed around the canyon. I evaded the fire barrage and fired a shot at the nearest cannon. When the dust cleared there was nothing left but smoke and rubble.

There were three turrets after that, I set the turret on auto and it began firing on each one. Now all I had to do was continue to dodge the cannons. I started by pushing the pedal all the way down and up the side of a cliff. I began timing the shots and right before the cannons could get an accurate shot off, I made a ninety degree turn left and I saw the turret take out another cannon.

That left us with two left, I switched back over to manual and drove directly at one cannon, unloading the Mako's rockets until that turret was gone to oblivion. The last one I took out with a mixture if rocket and turret fire.

With the last one gone, I drove up and parked by the complex. Checking my weapons I turned around and saw Cody was about ready to lose his lunch and Danny already had. This was a chance like no other.

"What's wrong guys? Can't handle a little turbulence?"

Danny looked at me with a fire in his eye, "I can handle turbulence. What I can't handle is drivers that don't know what way is up and down."

I clicked a button on the controls and opened a compartment holding new helmets, "Here you big baby, get out of that chuke filled helmet."

I grabbed one out and tossed it to Danny, "Thanks, jack ass."

We all got our equipment and climbed out of the Mako. We walked over to the door and took our places. I sat by the controls, Danny was around the corner with Liara and Cody, and Wrex was right next to me. I took a deep breath and hit the button. Wrex flew through the door and pinned one Batarian up to the wall. He had no weapons and raised his hands in the air in surrender.

Wrex let a deep chuckle and was about to kill the guy when a Batarian across the room spoke up, "Wait, we don't want to fight."

I came around the corner with my gun trained on the guy, "What do you mean?"

The Batarian walked over to us with his hands raised in surrender, "We don't want to fight. This was just supposed to be a regular slave grab but then Balak came and changed it."

Balak, something about that name rang a bell, "Okay, we can come to an agreement here. You said it was a slave grab, where are your hostages?"

The Batarian backed up a little bit, "They are in the main facility with Balak. He is there guiding the asteroid to crash into the planet."

I looked at the door into the storage area, "Anything we need to worry about in there?"

The Batarian paused for a moment, "There are two shock troops and eight infantry men."

I locked my rifle and went up to the door, "Wrex, they are free to go."

Wrex made a growling sound and walked over to the door with me. Danny and the others came in with their guns on the Batarians, "Danny and Cody, watch the Batarians in here. Do not kill them. Liara, you are with me and Wrex."

Liara took her place with us and I hit the controls. We were met with a stream of gun fire through the door. I looked over at Liara, "Liara, use a biotic push and slide me to some cover inside."

Liara looked me in the eye, "Got it."

I got down on the ground and Wrex chucked a grenade inside the opening. As soon as it went off, I was pushed into the room and slid across the floor and behind some boxes. Luckily, the Batarians didn't see me on account of the smoke from the grenade. I was able to sneak along the side of the cargo area and flank the enemy.

Once I was in a decent spot I shot around to corner of a box and opened fire on the Batarians. I caught most of them off guard and they dropped like flies. Others that were lucky enough to be on the far side of the group, were able to fall back and get into cover.

Their luck ran out when Wrex came into the room. He charged toting a shotgun and blowing them off their feet. Wrex was smashing skulls and throwing the crates around squashing some hostiles in the process. He had gone into a Krogan orgasm or blood rage.

Soon enough, the hostiles on our floor were taken out, "That accounted for ten people, everyone that the Batarians said was in here is dead."

As soon as I finished that sentence more hostiles opened fire from the balcony. It pinned Wrex and I down in place. We could have gotten out if they had shot a continuous stream but they fired in short controlled bursts that would keep their gun from overheating and us in our place.

I thought I was going to have to call in Danny and Cody when one of the Batarians flew from the balcony and to the ground. I looked from him back to the Batarians that were floating into the air now. I quick drew my pistol and capped each one off. I then looked over to Wrex.

"You do that big guy?"

Wrex looked at me and huffed, "No, she did."

I looked back up to see Liara at the balcony, "I have finished them off."

I gave a nod and a thumbs up, "Okay, can you turn off this engine and we can get the fuck out of here."

Liara nodded and stepped away from the balcony. Within seconds we heard the loud whine and the engine die. Now, all that was left on the list was to kill Balak.

**Okay, I'm gonna call it quits here because I have writer's cramp and I need more alcohol. Hope you enjoyed that chapter.**

**ROAD HOUSE!**


	23. Are They Dead Yet?

**As I sit here tonight posting Users chapter 23, I want to say thank you for the support and I would like to ask for some help. I need some game ideas for Users 2. Just stuff that Ty Danny and Cody can use and I can make reference too. So if there is a game that you really like or want to see in Users then PM me your idea. I still want this to be a story you want to read.**

**Danny:**

Danny and Ty made their way up through the corridors of the main control station. They had just arrived and the plan was to come in with groups of two. Wrex being the last one since they had an odd number. The two leaders were Ty and Danny, followed by Liara and Cody. Fight now Ty and Danny were at the edge of the stairs to enter the main hall where Balak was.

Danny pulled up his rifle and inspected it, "Why do I have to use a lancer again?"

Ty readied his Stinger and flipped the safety off, "Because you blew up your last one. Plus, you can change it at any time."

Danny snapped at Ty quick, "I cannot change anything. I get tired from doing it. Mine isn't on a time limit like yours."

Ty just shook his head, "Well, that's fucking perfect."

Ty dodged around the corner and began sprinting up the stairs. Danny followed with his assault rifle at the ready. They made their way up and into the open room. They came up and looked around at all the Batarians that surrounded them. The Batarians had taken a post along the upper level and they all had their guns trained on Danny and Ty.

Danny looked around at the Batarians; they had sniper rifles which meant that they would be useful until a real firefight broke out. Danny reached back for his pistol but Ty put his hand in the way.

"If they wanted us dead, they could have done so."

Danny gave a nod and moved his hand away. Ty holstered his pistol and walked around the facility. Danny followed looking around for threats. He saw a giant statue in the middle with drones hovering around it. Danny looked from there to the roof where he saw a glass paneling and something moving above it. Danny just continued walking until they reached another set of stairs. This one had a Batarian that Danny assumed was Balak.

The Batarian raised his hand as a hello, "Now that you have come here, we would like to discuss leaving now."

Danny stepped forward before Ty could say anything, "We aren't going anywhere."

Balak pinched the top of his four nostril nose, "We meant us you idiot."

Ty just pushed Danny aside, "What makes you think I would let you leave?"

Balak smiled and pointed around the room. Ty and Danny looked and saw multiple bombs placed all around them. Ty opened his mouth to reply but Balak pointed over to a room. There they saw hostages.

"We have this place wired to blow in ten minutes and it is also connected to a heart monitor I am wearing. Now, what would you like to do?"

Danny grabbed Ty by the shoulder and Ty replied, "Okay, go but remember that next time I see you. I will kill you."

Balak walked over to a door behind him, "Oh, I will. Now, boys keep him company."

With that, every Batarian in the place began firing. Ty dove to the left and Danny to the right. Danny got into a crate filled area which provided a lot of cover. Danny began firing well controlled bursts at the Batarians. He started with the first one on the left side; he took out the Batarian with a shot to the arm and then followed it with a shot to the head. This caused the Batarian to swing back and shoot the person next to him with an uncontrolled twitch.

Danny continued the short bursts but his gun eventually over heated. He had to take cover behind a box to let it cool down. While this was happening, he looked over to see how Ty was doing. Ty was fighting his way through the Batarians with a combo of hand to hand and gun fighting. He would run up and punch one Batarian and while that one was reelling back from the shock he would put a bullet in the next one's head.

By the time Danny had seen Ty take down four Batarians his gun had cooled down and now it was his turn to take down the drones. Danny pulled his gun up and aimed to just miss as they dove for Cody and Liara.

**Cody:**

Cody and Liara came up the stair when it was their turn and rushed head long into a fire fight. They were fired on first by a pack of drones that were just being activated off guard dog mode. They swooped in at Cody and Liara so fast that only Liara had time to react. Liara dove to the side and grabbed Cody as she did.

They landed on the ground and Liara put one of the drones in a stasis. From there Cody pulled up his sniper and took the other two out with one shot each. The last one dropped out of stasis and fell. Cody thought that it would smash against the ground but it caught itself in time.

It was immediately fired upon and taken down by Danny from across the room. Cody knew what had to be down. He grabbed Liara by the hand and pulled her up. From there the two of them made their way to the upper level where Cody began to snipe the Batarians too distracted to see them. This was all thanks to Ty and his loud and proud fighting.

Cody ended up getting carried away as a team of Batarians spotted them and charged. Liara and Cody quickly turned and fired on them but they were goners until Wrex showed up and charged them back. The Batarians turned tail and ran after seeing a fully grown Krogan charge them.

Cody watched as Wrex caught up and began beating the Batarians to death with the butt of his shotgun. He flipped it around and took each Batarian down with one swift blow to the head. The fighting ended quickly after that. The room got quiet with no more Batarians but Ty was still sprinting around the room. Cody was confused and pulled Ty up on the comm.

"Hey, what's with the rush?"

Ty's voice came over rushed and frantic, "Balak escaped and wired this place with explosives."

Cody's eyes grew wide when he looked around, "How long do we have?"

Ty didn't say anything… and that was all the coercing Cody needed. He began doing what Ty was and running around the room looking for bombs. Cody caught one Ty had missed and immediately went to disarm it. He pulled up his omnitool to begin but realized he didn't know how to do this.

"Ty, how the fuck do we disarm the bombs?"

"I don't know. Drew has been doing it for me."

Cody's eyes grew wide at Ty's statement, "God help us."

**Ty:**

I was running so fast that I would have been the star of the track team. There were at least two bombs left and I didn't know where one was. It was up to me and Drew to fix the problem that Balak had created.

I finished the one up that I was at or should I say putting my hand on it while the technocytes disarmed it. Once I felt the bots come back into my arm I was off to the one that I had picked up on my scanner. I ran to it and placed my hand on it.

"Drew, how much longer do I have?"

"You have at least 40 seconds after this one is finished."

I put my other hand to my face, "Well, fuck."

"Ty, we understand that we are in an intense situation but is the language really needed?"

I gripped my mask so hard that crack appeared, "I will say whatever I fucking want."

"Very well, this bomb is finished 20 seconds."

"Oh, shit", was all that came out as I took off towards the next bomb. I ran as fast as I could but saw no sign of It. I looked around the room and saw Cody hunched over one. All possible conclusions lead me to believe that it was my last one. I pivoted and did a one-eighty still going full bore to the bomb.

I had the countdown going in my mind as I ran. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and fuck. I expected the bomb to go off but was surprise when Cody stood and waved over at me. I stopped running in the middle of the room and felt like my heart was about to explode.

I let myself fall back and lay on the ground and noticed something moving behind the glass panels above. I tilted my head in wonder of what it could be and was shocked when the glass shattered revealing Samus. Her armor was still torn up and destroyed, falling toward me ready to pound my face in.

She had her arm cannon at the ready and was charging a shot. Her glass was a one way mirror but I could tell she was scowling at me, ready to tear my head off. I heard everyone yelling and Wrex's stomps as he came barreling to help me. Over all that however I heard Drew's voice.

"Put your hand up, sir."

I put my hand up and closed my eyes. I felt a wave of warm goo fall over me and sat up. I looked around and saw Samus cut in half. I looked in my hand and saw the glaive that was kicked out into space sitting in my hand.

Still in shock I stood up and placed the glaive on my back. I walked over to everyone as they ran up to me and I felt like I was going to collapse from the run. Wrex came up and shook me and brought me back to my senses.

"Look at what you did."

I looked behind me and saw Samus's form shimmer and morph back into a Batarian. I felt my mouth drop and I looked over to Danny. We both were thinking the same thing I could tell.

I can't wait to hear how she pulled this one off.

**There, Samus is fully dead now. No more saying that she could have survived. She is not coming back and helping the Users. She was in all sense of the word a bad guy. Now, please stop sending me requests to have a Danny/Samus. Thank you.**


	24. Breaking Barriers and Faces

**Hey, fans of Users. I'm back from that horrible experience of being sick. Here is the new chapter, I hope you like it. I went through all five perspectives to set up the next couple chapters which will be at the most two points of view. So, tell your friends, tell your dog, and then tell your psychiatrist because Users is back.**

**Ty:**

We arrived aboard the Normandy and immediately unpacked. Danny and Cody quickly finished off their gear and headed to the showers following Liara. Wrex just walked over to his crates and took his post leaning against them. I walked over to Ash and began cleaning my weapons.

I pulled my assault rifle off and sat it down on the table. I hit the button for it to fully extend and then opened it up. It was just matrix code to me, this time however; I had no idea how to rearrange it. The code was jumbled and twisted. It looked like it was covering actual parts of the gun but it all blended together in a way that I couldn't tell where to start. I grabbed a tool from the table and I heard some snickering so I sat it down.

I looked around for the snickering and then over to Ashley, "Were you laughing at me?"

Ashley gave her eyes a blink and made a face like she was coming out of the zone, "Huh? No, why?"

I motioned to my rifle, "Well, I was going to clean my rifle but someone was laughing at me when I picked up a tool."

Ashley looked around, "Which one?"

I reached over and grabbed the tool. It looked like the sonic screwdriver. I held it up and Ashley smiled.

"Well, that is a scanning device. It will just tell you that you need to clean your gun."

I just sat it back where it was supposed to go, "Well, what am I supposed to clean my gun with?"

Ashley's smile was replaced with a smirk, "Look, you smell like crap and you don't know how to clean your gun. Just leave your weapons here and I will clean them for you. That way you can take a shower and stop stinking up my station."

I raised my hand and began to protest but realized that she would probably right. I hadn't taken a shower since Noveria. I just gave a nod and walked off, thankful that my helmet covered my face.

That was when it hit me, I could take down my helmet now, "Hey, Drew, let's take down the helmet."

Four lines forming an X expanded over my helmet. The lines split and the pieces retracted back into the main brace of the helmet. My face was free now and the breeze felt good. Now if I could just take the rest off.

I made my way over to the elevator and hit the up button. That giggle was getting to me, I knew who it was but I couldn't put my finger on it. I had heard it a ton before on a game. Who was it?

I got so caught up with the voice that I walked out of the elevator and passed the only person happy to see me. I finally noticed her when she grabbed my hand and gave a pull. I looked back and saw Tali standing behind me.

"Hey, you look troubled?"

I brought my hand up to my arm, "Uh, sorry, I am just distracted."

Tali put her hand on hip, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

I just changed subjects, "Yeah, that's me. What did you while I was gone?"

Tali took my hand and walked us over to the mess table. I sat down and started to feel awkward when it came to mind that I was supposed to shower. My mind frantically began thinking of ways to excuse myself. I was thinking so hard I wasn't paying attention to what Tali was saying and then she finished up.

"Is that okay?"

I just said what I thought was the correct answer, "Yes."

Tali sat back in her chair with a sigh of relief, "Okay, will you ask him for me?"

My mind was still blank, "Yes."

Tali sat up and grabbed my hand again, "Okay, he's in the showers with Cody. I really need to get to know your friends."

I just reacted, "What am I asking?"

**Danny:**

Danny finished adjusting his boots and was putting on his gloves when Ty walked in. Ty walked over to Danny trying to keep away from seeing Cody showering. Danny chuckled a little and started to speak when Ty got to him.

"You are fine Ty, it's just like being in a locker room."

Ty just rubbed his face," I didn't like the locker room. Anyway, I have a question for you."

Danny just gestured to Ty, "Shoot."

Ty put his hands together in a praying style, "Would you go and hangout with Tali on the Citadel?"

Danny didn't even think about it twice, "Yeah, sure. She is already trying harder than your last one."

Ty gave a sigh of relief at the same time Cody took down the privacy barrier for the shower. Ty immediately looked at the other end of the room away from Cody. Danny just gave a chuckle and got out of his seat.

"I'm heading to bed guys. See'ya tomorrow."

Danny exited the room and headed over to the sleep pods. He exited the room and walked across the mess hall. Danny was walking by Kaiden, when he noticed Kaiden doing his best to cover up his computer screen. Danny remembers hearing about how he trolled Ty and it was time for him to feel the burn.

Danny walked over and nudged Kaiden. This caused Kaiden to fall away from the screen and Danny saw that Kaiden was looking at one of the sites Danny had signed him up on. Danny grew a smile on his face, it was time to unleash the pain.

Kaiden hit the exit button on the computer, "What do you want?"

Danny smiled and leaned against the console, "Nothing much, I just wanted to talk to you. How was fun time?"

Kaiden got red faced and grabbed Danny, "Listen to me!"

Danny made a sarcastic gasp, "Huh, you aren't going to kiss me are you. I don't swing that way."

Kaiden flipped Danny and held his arm in a chicken wing, "You can't tell anyone about this."

"Your secret of wanting dick is safe with me", Danny laughed.

Kaiden began looking around frantically hoping nobody could hear them, "Just shut up!"

At that moment everyone looked and Danny was about to make a comment but Kaiden gave a blow to his face. Everything went black.

**Cody:**

Cody left Shepard's room and headed over to the mebay. He wanted to know how Samus got in the game. He passed by the mess and saw Kaiden throwing Danny into a sleeping pod. Cody didn't know whether to think that Kaiden was being a dick or Danny was being a troll.

Cody stepped up to the medbay door and knocked three times. He heard some rustling behind the door and then it flew open and Cody was face to face with Chakwas.

"Did you really knock on the door", she asked in a way that told Cody she wanted to face palm at him.

Cody rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, I did."

Chakwas just sighed and started toward her desk, "Well, come in."

Cody stepped in and saw Shepard lying on the cot sleeping. Other than that the room was empty, without the others in here it was as barren as the ship when they had made port. Cody walked over and sat on the cot next to Shepard.

"So, here's my question. How did you get Samus in the game?"

Chakwas stiffened, "What?"

Cody looked over at Shepard, "Samus was in the mission. She is from a separate game from a separate console. I wanted to know how you got her in here to fight us."

Chakwas sat for a few moments and the swallowed and replied, "Well, it was relatively simple. Ty signed up to beta the new xbox live system. It opened up the internet to me and allowed me to find her on a .zip file and extract her programing."

Cody nodded and decided that made enough sense to him, "Alright, cool. When will Shepard wake up?"

Chakwas looked to him with a worried look on her face, "I don't know. I'm starting to think it wasn't the alcohol that did this too him."

**Shepard:**

Shepard was a little boy, he was a man, he was a soldier, and he was a program. In his sleep he knew each of those statements were true. He was very old and was written just a few years ago. He was written as a man and had the body of one, with false memories of a childhood and parents that didn't really conceive him. He was a soldier because he knew how to fight and fought for a cause. He is a program because he never made a choice on his own.

John sat in a white room like he did in all his dreams. Just waiting to wake up and contemplating the question of why. In truth he could wake himself up whenever he felt like it but he hadn't gotten a good rest in a while.

Shepard's thoughts drifted back to where they had as many nights since "it" happened. Ty, that fucking college boy bastard. He came in and shattered Shepard's entire world and showed no remorse. So far Shepard had been able to carry on in auto pilot. He just let himself go and do what he was trained or programed to do.

Now, he needed a reason and it might be in the one place he doesn't want to look. His reason might be with Ty. Ty was his User after all and that had to count for something. Up until this point Shepard hadn't really tried to get to know his creator and only shared a brief moment of bonding when they were killing the Asari on Noveria.

Shepard thought back to it and about how Ty and him worked liked clockwork. The dispatched all the Asari without taking any damage. It was honestly the only moment since Ty entering that Shepard felt like he had a purpose. His purpose then was to fight and watch Ty's back and vice versa.

This knew realization gave Shepard strength; he stood up in the room and decided that he was going to fight like that from now on. Shepard walked over to the white wall and punched it, shattering it like breaking a mirror. He was ready; he knew what he had to do. Now, he just needed to wake up. Shepard closed his eyes and just thought to wake up.

**Tali:**

Tali sat in the mess hall waiting for Ty to come out with her. She was nervous about how his friend would react to spending a day with her and how Ty would feel about this. Yet, she really wanted to make an effort to get to know his friends. She figured that it was the best place to build a relationship.

Tali finished her thought as Ty exited Shepard's room and looked like he had been blow dried. He looked over at Tali and smiled. Tali felt herself blush because she couldn't smile back but she did sit up straighter and looked happy with her body language.

Tali got up and made her way to Ty quickly, "So, what did he say?"

Ty just smiled, "Danny said he would do it."

Tali felt a surge of momentum build and she had to do something else. She grabbed Ty's hand and pulled him over to the elevator. She hit the button and the elevator went down.

She was all caught up in her idea when Ty made a coughing sound, "Uh, what are we doing?"

Tali began to bounce on her toes and just stayed silent causing Ty to get the funniest confused face ever. He knitted his eyebrows while lifting one giving the appearance of a caterpillar about to eat.

The elevator opened and Tali pulled Ty into the engine room. Ty saw where she was going and pulled her in close. Tali hugged him back as the two sat with the hum of the drive core in the background. Slowly, the hum lulled them to sleep and Tali felt as if things would keep getting better

**Pieces set and ready for the next chapters. From here on, Users will take a different path than it has been on. This prompts me to put a challenge out there for you, Users fans. PM me or leave a review telling me something you really like in the series and something you dislike. I really want to get a good idea where my fan base for this story is. So please, even if you're a guest without a profile, tell me. You all matter.**

**Oh, one more thing, I won't crucify you if you leave a review. I got a pm from someone that said they prefer reviews to pming which is understandable. It is more convenient. I just prefer pms because they are one: private and two: more personal so I can talk to you and get a real feel for how you view the series.**


	25. Hey, little girl?

** Hello again people of FF and fans of Users. It is chapter 27 and this is a monumental occasion for me and you. Today, Friday the third, I have put out my twenty-fifth chapter of Users. While I am patting myself on the back, I want to really thank you. I know I have written it before but there have been plenty of occasions that I was tempted to drop it and I did at one point. Thankfully, you have kept me going. You are the driving force of Users and I thank you for that, for the thousandth time, thank you for keeping me going. Thank you for being Users.**

** Now, onto regular business for Users 2, I have been contemplating another point of view. Luckily, I scrapped that because I can hardly get a Tali or Shepard in there right now. Now, however, I have seen that there are a lot of missions in ME 2. Way more than I would like to write about but I need to know what missions I absolutely have to have. So, if you could pm me about your favorite missions, then I will be sure to include them.**

**Ty:**

We arrived at the Citadel and everyone went off in their own groups. I left with Shepard who insisted on coming with me. Danny and Tali went off on their own and Danny was grumbling about having to go shopping instead of drinking. Cody was kidnapped by Garrus and Kaiden to go to Chora's Den.

If you have ever seen the episode where Doctor Who meets his other self then you would know how awkward it was. We would like the same stuff so when we went into Kassa Sporting goods and wanted to test out a pistol, we had to take turns like five year olds. This happened at several stores and by the end we agreed to hit the flux for some drinks.

We arrived at the Flux and sat down for some drinks. The waitress came up and asked us for our order. It was the final straw when Shepard ordered the same type of whiskey and meal.

I waited till the waiter left to speak, "Look Shepard, you don't have to copy me."

Shepard just sat back in his chair and relaxed, "I'm not copying you. We just happen to have the same taste."

I just sat back and sighed, "I guess you're right. It's just getting on my nerves."

Shepard just cracked his neck, "Hey, you're the one who created me. Not the other way around."

By this point I needed to get my mind off it all, "I'm going to play some quasar."

I got up and Shepard reached into his pocket. I watched him pull out a deck of cards and start placing them on the table. I was so distracted that I ran into someone. He grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around.

Once I was facing him I got a good look at his face. He was a Turian with three white lines going down his chin and the same on his mandibles. He had on a black armor with some battle damage on the right shoulder. The only emotion he was putting off was anger and a lot of it.

He grabbed me and brought his fist back to knock me into next week but stopped when something caught his eye. He looked even angrier and dropped me, taking off to the left. I was cautious at first but made my way up the ramp and to the machines.

I looked from the cheap machines over to the high roller machines. I decided that I might as well go big or go home. I sat down at a machine on the far side and placed in two-hundred credits. I hit a seven right off the bat with a 5-8. In turn I tried for a 4-7 next. I landed with a 13 after that. My next move decided if I won or lost. I hit the 5-8 and ended with a 21.

The machine ate my money and the way it did made it sound like it was laughing at me. I thought '_Okay, you little bastard, my turn to laugh at you.' _I place my hand on the machine and just like always, the matrix code formed and changed the way I wanted it too. Next thing I did was check my omnitool to see if the funds transferred. I had 22,000 more that my previous 55,000. This left me with an amazing 77,000.

I stepped over to the next machine and attempted to do it again. I placed my hand on the machine and closed my eyes. Just as I was seeing the code, I was bumped in my leg and lost all concentration. I opened my eyes and looked around but nobody was around me. I attempted it again but the same thing happened. I was about to try it a third time when I heard a small voice by my leg.

The voice squeaked, "Um, mister monster?"

I looked down at my leg and saw my combat drone next to a small girl that was no older than eight. She had a suit on like most with a blue and pink color scheme. She had pig tails and mesmerizing blue eyes that seemed to gaze right through me. Like she knew if she could trust me or not at a glance.

I crouched down to her height, "Hey, you need something miss?"

Her eyes became hard and cold, "Don't look, that Turian you bumped into is at the top of the ramp. He's looking for me."

I felt a confused look come to my face. Suddenly this little girl wasn't so little, "Why would that be?"

The girl leaned up to my ear, "I am one of the game AI. I conduct the dumb AI around and make sure that they can live their lives happy."

I leaned back, "Wait, what?"

I got a slap to the face, "Shut up and help me."

Before I could retaliate to the girl, I felt a clawed hand grab my shoulder and a knee go into my back. I fell forward and I saw my drone shoot at the man who had hit me. I landed on the ground and saw the Turian was at the end of the isle making his way toward us. Without thinking I stood and grabbed the girl.

I leaped over the row of quasar machines behind us and took off toward the ramp. I ran down the aisle and got to the ramp when I saw two more humans running up wearing the same armor as the Turian. I avoided them by jumping over the edge onto the dance floor. Luckily, I didn't land on anyone. Unluckily, I landed on my back.

I lay on the ground and the little girl got up and began shaking me, "C'mon, we need to go."

I sat up and looked to the ramp. Two humans, a Turian, and the Salarian that shoved me were making their way down the ramp to get us. I began to get up but the Turian pulled a gun and had it trailed on me.

I just sat as they walked over to me and the Turian spoke for the group, "Saren wants her. Bad move helping her."

The girl stood and faced them, "Do you know what he is?"

The Salarian whipped out a shotgun, "Dead meat."

Right before the Salarian could point the gun at me I lashed out and grabbed his arm, "Wrong answer." I focused on his armor and though of something that was unprotected and stupid looking. What came to mind was a sexy armor mod from Skyrim. The Salarian's armor glowed green with Matrix code and changed into a bikini.

All the other thugs pointed their guns at me so I pulled the Salarian in for cover. We were at a stand off until someone came up behind the thugs and smashed the two humans' heads together and kicked the Turian out of the way.

"Starting a bar fight without me", yelled Shepard triumphantly.

I picked up the girl and ran toward the door, "Shepard, follow me!"

Shepard looked at the thugs and then caught up to me. We ran out of the flux and down to the water front. We finally stopped once we were under the bridge near the human embassy.

**Shepard:**

Shepard was struggling to keep up with Ty. Something about this little girl didn't seem right. She had a certain aura to her that just told Shepard to pass her by and think nothing of her. Yet, Ty was acting like she was the most important thing in the Citadel.

They finally stopped running once they were under the bridge that lead to the Human embassy. Shepard walked over to Ty who had set down the girl. This was the point where Shepard got answers.

"Alright, what the hell is going on here?"

Ty looked to the little girl and then back to Shepard, "Well, this is the AI of the Citadel. She controls the people inside."

Shepard wiped his face of sweat, "What?"

The little girl looked at him, "No, you must not hear this."

There was a white flash of light and the girl was gone. Shepard didn't notice anything had happened but Ty was standing holding something in his hand. Shepard looked around but didn't see the little girl.

"Where is the girl?"

Ty looked at Shepard like he was more confused than Shepard way, "She just said a few words and left."

Shepard was about to hit Ty, "She just left and you didn't get her to her parents?"

Ty ran his hand through his hair, "look Shepard, she wasn't a little girl. She was the AI of the Citadel. She just walked into the elevator and disappeared."

Shepard shook his head," I can't fucking believe this. What did she say?"

Ty looked at him with a dark twisted image on his face, "You will be late to your own funeral."

Shepard just raised an eyebrow, "What, isn't that a good thing?"

Ty shoved what he had in his hand into his pocket, "Look, it wasn't a happy tone. She sounded like pity. It was like she was sad for me."

Shepard and Ty both sat more confused than ever. Then a round landed near their feet. Shepard and Ty turned to see the four thugs coming up on them and looking pissed.

**Okay, I'm sorry for the late chapter. I have been rather busy lately and it didn't help that Hollywood Undead just put out a new song along with Halo 4. Now, I didn't have any questions to answer this time so I would like it if everyone left a question in the reviews and send me any feedback through pms. I want to do some Q and As again.**


	26. Danny is spreading

** So, it has been several weeks and I have been busy with some plans and Halo 4 so I apologize for the late coming of this chapter. Glad to say that Mondays are returning to be update days because I like Mondays. I seem to get a better following if I make Monday fun so here it is. Now, I am a little drunk and out of it. This is my final filler chapter and Virmire is coming in next week. Don't forget to leave me a pm or a review on your thoughts and felling for this chapter. I have said it before I prefer PMs over reviews. Without further due USERS CHAPTER 26.**

**Danny:**

Danny sat just staring at the holopad in front of him. He was looking over different armors and that was it. Tali had dragged him to an armor store because she thought he should change it up from the Liberator armor that he had been sporting. He flipped through a few and ended up on Crisis armor.

Danny gave a shrug and clicked on the armor. The dressing room walls split and mechanical arms lashed out and removed his current armor and placed a new set on him. Danny then hit a button on the control panel to his left and the dressing room doors around him fell.

Danny stepped into the open and walked over to Tali. She was scanning through a list for engine parts. Danny smiled and knew a way to get a kick out of this. He walked around her and looked over her shoulder.

"Hey, is that the latest copy of Fornax human edition?"

Tali threw her arm behind her back and deactivated her omintool. Danny raised an eyebrow; he hadn't noticed her looking at her omnitool before. Tali just stared at him; Danny could see a hint of desperation in her stare like he had caught her doing something she wasn't supposed to. Tali's light on her mask lit up like she was about to say something when they heard shots in the distance.

Danny smiled, another adventure awaited. He grabbed Tali by the hand and took off for the shots. Whatever it was, he wanted in on a fight. It would turn this boring day into something more.

Danny and Tali sprinted to where the gun shots came from. Danny felt his heart sink when he saw the Citadel security carting off an angry looking Turian. Danny looked over to Tali who was face palming.

"I'm guessing you expected some adventure that would take us to the end of the Citadel in pursuit of one man?"

Danny let his head sag as he let out a sighed, "Yes."

Tali just looked away from Danny and walked over to the railing, "Well, what do you want to do?"

Danny ran his hand through his hair, "Um, we could go drinking."

Tali sat up and clapped her hands, "Alright, that gives me a chance to drink you under the table."

A smirk twitched on Danny's face, "Heh, nobody out drinks me."

Tali just walked past him and ran to the bridge, "first one there doesn't have to pay!"

Danny's eyes widened, he took off faster than he had ever ran before. Tali was at least twenty yards ahead of him and gaining. Danny had to kick it into gear.

Danny began sprinting at his top speed and quickly over took Tali. He looked back to see Tali stop at a door. Danny cursed and looked ahead to see an Elcor right in front of him. He smashed into the Elcor and fell down.

The Elcor looked down at Danny, "Sarcastically, you must be trying to kill brain cells."

Danny got up and began walking away, "Great, I ran into an Elcor comedian."

Danny walked over to the entrance and walked inside the bar. It looked like Purgatory, but that wasn't built until after the Reaper invasion. Danny walked up the first flight of steps and saw that in the section where Aria sat. It was full of tables and booths rather than a couch and Aria. Tali was sat right in the middle looking cocky as ever.

Danny sat down and brought in his signature smirk, "You ready to lose?"

The waiter brought a tray with two glasses and sat one in front of both of them. Tali picked her's up and hooked it into her induction port, "Why did you just talk to yourself?"

Danny picked his drink up and threw it back and downed it. He set it down and looked to see Tali just finishing her's. Danny flipped his over and sat back in his seat. Tali sat her's down and looked over to the waiter, she waved and their next set of drinks were on the way.

The two had eight drinks and by this time they had began getting very personal in their talks, "So, Tali, what exactly drew you to Ty?"

Tali shook her head a little like she was trying to clear it, "Well, *hic* I hated him at first. Like he really pissed me off. Then, he spoke to me and I had a feeling like we were deeply connected. If I close my eyes I see my connection to him as a blue tether. Once I really start to think about it. I see a green tether and a red tether connected to him too."

Danny started to giggle a bit, "That's pretty deep."

Tali started to giggle too, "Your right, I guess it is. Now, we better hit the road before the waiter brings the check."

The two stood up and began to stumble off when they reached the stairs. Danny was the first and missed the step and slid down the flight while Tali grabbed the railing and slid/walked down. She reached the bottom of the steps and picked Danny up but almost fell on her ass in the in the process.

Danny tried to think clear enough to get back to the ship but couldn't muster up the focus to walk, let alone to a destination. The only logical conclusion he could come to was that if he couldn't walk, he better drive. He looked around and started walking toward the first transit car he saw.

**Tali:**

Tali clutched the seat and laughed at how fast they were going. Danny didn't know how to drive the car and refused to take his foot off the accelerator. This lead to cars and trucks swerving to miss them and Danny pulling and pushing the wheel causing them to fly in a serpentine like pattern.

Danny looked left and just shouted, "That's the way", and he immediately turned the wheel right and the car lurched right taking them toward the docks.

Tali just continued to giggle, "We are going to die."

Danny just gave his signature smirk and turned right into the Normandy docking bay, parking perfectly in the spot for cabs. Tali unclutched her seat and got up to head inside. She opened the car and started to get out when Danny shouted, "Last one inside has to sleep in the engine room."

Danny took off and ran for the Normandy while Tali still stood comprehending his statement. Once she got it, Tali took off after Danny but it was such a short distance and he had a head start on her. She manages to catch up and jump into the airlock just in time to see the door close behind her.

She looked over at Danny and was about to give him a talking to when her legs gave out from under her and she fell to the ground. She reopened her eyes to see Ty standing over her waving a hand in front of her face.

"Well, she is awake. How much did you drink Danny?"

Tali looked over to the other side of the room where Danny was leaning up against the wall, "Just eight or nine glasses, of their hardest stuff."

Ty pinched his nose, "We are going to be on Virmire in a day. I got shot at earlier today. Now, you are telling me you two got drunk and drove back to the Normandy."

Tali reached up and grabbed Ty's shoulder, "What happened?"

Ty looked down at her, "You drank a little too much, and you have alcohol poisoning."

Tali tried to pull herself up but her arm wasn't responding, "How long before I can go to work?"

Ty looked over to Danny, "It's going to be at least three days."

Danny just threw his hands into the air, "Ah, fuck, Virmire's tomorrow!"

Ty walked over to Danny and punched him in the face, "Bigger problem than that, why do you keep giving people alcohol poisoning!"

**Don't forget to pop in and check out a fic inspired by this story. It is called Mass Deffect by Twinzip. Don't forget to leave me a PM or review.**


	27. And I'm free, FREE FALLING

** Yeah, Virmire. I have been waiting for this since Noveria. In fact, in writing this chapter I had that spark that came with writing the original Users chapters. Honestly, this has it all. Bad ass fight, awesome comedy, even a heart wrenching moment (JK, I suck at that.) I was just so excited to write this chapter that I spent all week thinking about how to write it. I finally came up with an idea. Hope you enjoy it.**

**ROAD HOUSE!**

**Ty:**

This was a bad idea twenty minutes ago when Shepard suggested it. Now, I am standing at the edge of the Normandy ramp platform ten miles in the air. I looked down at my feet; luckily Drew had a magnetic setting that he turned on in my boots. I took a deep breath and got ready to jump.

I quickly released it and looked back at the crew behind me. Shepard was standing with Wrex and Garrus giving me thumbs up, "You ready to do this?"

I gave Shepard the middle finger, "Why do I have to do this?"

Shepard just patted Wrex on the back, "Looks like it's up to you."

Wrex began walking toward the ramp until he was right beside me. He looked over the edge and gave a nod. Then, Wrex turned to me and smiled, "You ready to go?"

I looked at Wrex with surprise, "You're coming with me?"

Wrex just smiled, "Not exactly."

Wrex then grabbed me by the shoulder and picked me up, "Have fun."

Wrex gave a single thrust and I went flying out the bay. I felt myself fly for a few moments and then dread hit as gravity took hold and I fell. I fell quick and in a fluttering motion unable to control where I was going. I spun in the air and my appendages flailed everywhere.

It was in the mist of this that a Drew spoke in my head, "Calm down."

I felt myself stop panicking and I spread my arms out so I fell front first toward the ground. Now that I was calm, I could assess the situation. I was still fairly high up and it seemed like I was falling in slow motion. Directly after that was when I hit the next atmosphere and felt fell at an alarming rate.

Drew began to speak rapidly but at a subtle tone, "We can survive this if you break the surface of the water before we hit it."

I looked down and saw we were headed for deep water. That was the good news; the bad news was that as in Shepard's plan I was going to have to land in near the second anti-air gun. That was the problem that we would have to deal with that when the time came. Right now, we needed to deal with surviving the fall.

I pulled out my assault rifle, just a simple avenger VI but it could get the job done. I aimed it at the ground and waited for the right moment. _I wished I had some way to know when to fire._

Like he had before, Drew spoke, "Fire in 3… 2… 1… sink."

I yelled out after I hear it, "Sink!" I began unloading my rifle at the water and sat the bullets break the surface repeatedly and it became a miniature storm. I reached sea level and landed in the water gun first.

I thought the water would stop my fall right away but I just flew through the water slowing down ever so slightly. I finally hit the bottom and not a minute too soon. I was about to pop from holding my breath. I didn't know if Drew could recycle air but I would prefer to ask him first. Funny thing is that it slipped my mind.

I began swimming as fast as I could up. My lungs continued to burn but I wasn't about to give up and just die. I began doing a breast stroke instead of just flutter kicking. I lost breath and burst through the surface taking a much needed gulp of air.

I lay back in the water for a moment, "God, if I ever get out of here, I will take the lung capacity exercises seriously at swim practice."

Drew spoke up after me, "I will document that sir."

I laughed, "Drew, you and I are the same person. Any chance of formality is out the door. Just call me Ty."

Drew spoke back in his monotone voice, "Ty, you could have taken a breath while you were under water. We recycle air quite easily."

I rolled my eyes, "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"We assumed that you would know about our adaptability after playing through the game we were coded into", there was a confusion to his voice, something I had never heard from him before.

"So, what did we learn?"

"Humans cannot think clearly in life threatening instances and therefore should not be trusted to undertake survival tasks."

I wanted to facepalm at that moment. I instead sat up and looked out to the land and saw the Geth from the gun coming out to see what had landed in the water. As far as I could count, there were two rockets, three troopers, one prime and two destroyers.

"Ty, I cannot see a way to survive a direct attack on the enemy forces. "

I looked at them all, "Sure we can."

"Could you explain your plan?"

I began making my way towards the shore slowly, "I attack them."

"Is there more to this plan, Ty?"

I rolled my eyes at his comment, "In the immortal words of Kevin Flynn, I'm a User. I'll improvise."

"We don't suggest that."

I smiled at his statement, "Too bad."

I swam in to the shallow water and the Geth still hadn't spotted me. I got behind one of the rocks that lined the perimeter. I looked around for some way to take on the Geth. I reached back for my assault rifle and realized it wasn't there. I must have dropped it under water.

I was bringing my hand back when it bumped into the glaive. That gave me an idea; I grabbed the glaive and thought about how I could do this. That's when Drew rang in my ears.

"I can guide your glaive sir."

I smiled and enacted my plan; I threw my glaive to the left and ran right. The Geth locked in on my glaive and began firing at it allowing me a chance to pull out my shotgun and take down one of the troopers. This caused the get a shift in focus from my glaive to me and I got pinned down behind a different rock.

I barked orders to Drew, "swing the glaive around and take out one of the Geth!"

I listened as the shots pinged against the rock and waited for them to shift. I heard a sharp sound of metal on metal and then the Geth fire shifted again. I dodged around and tossed a grenade at a destroyer. Then, I pulled up my shotgun and blasted another trooper. The Geth fire then reconcentrated on me and I dodged back around the side of the rock.

"Drew, where is the glaive?"

Drew was silent for a moment, then he spoke, "The glaive is lodged in the destroyer that I hit it with."

I hit the rock, "Fuck, how many enemies are left?"

Drew took another pause, "two rocket troopers, one trooper, one destroyer, and one prime."

I pulled out the detonator for my grenades, "What if I light off the grenade I threw?"

"With the range and destruction mode, it will take out the destroyer and a rocket trooper."

I didn't hesitate for a moment; I lit off the grenade and ran around the rock. The Geth got distracted by the grenade and that allowed me to gun down the last Geth trooper.

This however gave time for the rocket trooper to get a lock on me and fire one off. I didn't have time to dodge and brought my arms up to protect myself. That's when I realized my omnitool was activated. I brought them down to see a black combat drone fly forward and meet the rocket head on.

I looked forward and hip fired my shotgun and blew away the rocket trooper. That was when it hit me that the prime wasn't firing. I looked over to the gun and saw it lined with snipers all trained on me.

"Fuck."

**Shepard:**

Shepard's mouth stayed agape as Wrex walked back toward them. Wrex had a certain swag to his walk after throwing Ty off the ship. Not that he disproved it; there were plenty of times he wished he could throw one of the little trio off his ship. This was still very bad though.

Wrex looked at Shepard's confused look, "What's wrong?"

Shepard gestured toward the opening, "You just threw him out without a reentry pack or a parachute."

Wrex just shrugged, "So?"

Shepard wanted to hit Wrex so hard, "Humans can't survive ten mile fall!"

Wrex just shrugged, "Neither do Krogan. Now are we going to drop or is this just a going away party for him?"

Shepard grumbled and they all climbed into the Mako. Shepard made all the adjustments to the tank and then sat back in chair waiting for them to be over the drop zone. Shepard reran the plan through his head as he waited.

First, drop Ty off at the second AA gun. Second, drop Shepard and the others near the first gun. After that happens, Joker was supposed to drop the other two Users off in a position to flank the enemy. Assuming Ty survives and can make enough ruckus that is_. Damn it Wrex, why do you have to be such a Krogan!?_

"Over the drop!"

Shepard heard the words and hit the button to launch. He felt the Mako thrust forward out of the Normandy and strait to the ground. Shepard's hands flew over the tank controls and activated the jets. Shepard used the jets and slowed his decent until he landed the Mako and continued to keep going.

Shepard flew down the alley and canyons formed in the Mako. He didn't see much resistance until he rounded a corner and saw an armature. Shepard fought the urge to back up and hide around a corner. Instead he gunned it and rammed the armature.

The armature rode up on the hood completely disoriented. Shepard couldn't see worth a damn and used the cannon to blow the armature apart. Shepard let a smile come to his face and realized that it was too soon. Shepard began rapidly turning the wheel right and flew behind a rock to buy him some time. Shepard began circling the Colossus firing round after round.

Wrex clutched to the seat, "Damn it."

Garrus was doing the same, "What's wrong Wrex? You feeling sick?"

Wrex smiled, "Nah, the kid just drove a lot smoother. I'm not used to shitty driving anymore thanks to him."

Shepard held up a middle finger Wrex after the colossus fell. He gunned the Mako and flew down the paths until he reached the cannon. Shepard saw the path was blocked and looked back to the team. Wrex and Garrus gave a nod and opened the doors.

The three rushed out and charged the cannon. Garrus ripped out his sniper rifle and fell back into sniper position. Wrex did the opposite with shotgun and rushed the enemy. Shepard stayed on Wrex's right flank and gave support fire with his banshee assault rifle.

Garrus took cover in a cluster of rocks and began taking down Geth snipers. Wrex and Shepard cut up the ramp and made their way up to the gun. By the time they got up to the top Garrus had cleared the way and that allowed them to cut up to the control entrance.

When Shepard and Wrex got to the door they were rushed by a Geth destroyer. Shepard quickly dodged to the side and Wrex charged back and tackled the destroyer. Shepard switched to his shotgun and blew the head off the destroyer.

Shrepard helped up Wrex and they both made their way into the control area and dispatched the two Geth troopers at the controls. Shepard walked up to the controls and looked at them only to hesitate. He turned around and flipped on the comm.

"How the hell do I deactivate this cannon?"

** Wooh, that was a great chapter. Leave a PM and/or a review depending on your preferance. Oh, and I have inspired someone to write. If you want to know the story just PM me and I will tell you since I don't want to seem like I am forcing down your throats. I realize I shouldn't have been tell you guys to read other stories and all. I'm sorry about that. Now, on to next week.**


	28. Fucking Glitches

**Here is the next chapter in the hit television series (yeah right) Users. This chapter was even more fun to write than the last with my- never mind I am just going to leave it for you. Now, please remember that I would like some feedback and to know if you are liking the new direction and chapter.**

**Before I get into Users, I want you to know that I did some rewriting for chapters 1-5 and gave a little more chase between Tali and Ty. People were right that it was unrealistic just after one conversation. Now without further ado Users. (Been a while since I said that.)**

**ROAD HOUSE!**

**Danny:**

Danny wanted to burst out laughing when he saw Ty was okay but had a squadron of Geth to pin him down. The bastard survived a ten mile fall to the planet, only to walk right out into the open into a trap. Yep, that was definitely something Ty would do.

Danny walked away from the monitor and out of the meeting room. He walked down the stairs and stepped inside and hit the button for the elevator. Danny was so excited to finally fight on Virmire not only was it his favorite level but they would finally get to see Saren. The baddest bad guy in Mass Effect.

Danny gave a chuckle as he stepped out and saw Cody was already suited up, "You ready for the party?"

Cody looked back at him, "Long as I get to take home the girls afterwards."

Danny opened his locker and began putting on his new armor, "The only pussy you'll get is the gun on your back."

Cody grabbed the re-entry pack and another for Danny, "Just remember that I won't be saving your ass if this thing doesn't work."

Danny grabbed out his chest armor and slid it over his head. As soon as he did that it activated an air tight webbing that formed over his skin. From there he just pulled out the rest of his pads and they easily connected to the webbing. Once all his armor was in place, he grabbed his helmet and met Cody by the ramp.

Cody handed Danny a reentry pack and the two were all geared up for their jump. In the waiting, they just continued their small talk. Both still stood ready for when the ramp opened.

"So, you ever wonder why Ty's Xbox did this? Like, it could have been any of ours, couldn't it?"

Danny thought for a moment, "The way I figure it, the AI needed to gain enough control that it would be able to figure this out. Now, the only way it could do that is with a less secure system and plenty of time to gain intelligence."

Cody looked over to Danny, "So, you're saying because Ty has one of the old Xboxes that it was just too old to keep up?"

Danny gave a thumbs up, "Bingo."

Cody shrugged, "I'm almost jealous of him having an old school Xbox."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Almost?"

Cody nodded, "Don't get me wrong. I still think my Gears of War one is just fucking awesome."

Danny opened his mouth to say something but the ramp opened and he shut up. Danny and Cody hesitated for a moment and then they both ran to the edge of the ramp and jumped. They both fell at an alarming rate but they felt completely fine.

At about four miles in the air, the reentry pack kicked in and began letting out staggered and short bursts to slow their decent. Though the burst became faster and longer until all the jets were firing nonstop and Danny and Cody were able to land on the top of the AA guns facility.

Danny stood up and scoped their surroundings. He saw a rock that was taking constant fire from the Geth and could accurately guess that Ty was hiding behind it. Danny took out his assault rifle and looked over to Cody. Like he had been reading Danny's mind had made his way over to the overhang near the ramp up to the second level.

Danny walked over to him and they both were good to go. Cody jumped first and began gunning down the Geth on the ramp. Danny followed right after him and opened fire on the Geth snipers on the balcony.

Danny opened fire on one and the rest of the troopers turned and began firing at him. He dodged around a support wall and let his rifle cool down. When he came back around he saw two frozen Geth, a rocket trooper and a sniper, Danny quickly picked those off with short bursts and duct back around his corner as the Geth turned to fire on him.

This continued until all the Geth were dead. After that, Danny ran over to the side and waved to Ty. He saw Ty give a thumbs up and he heard a click as the comms opened.

Ty was the first to speak, "Okay, is that all of them?"

Danny looked around at all the troopers lying by his feet, "Yep, I got a bunch of dead rocket troopers and snipers here."

There was a pause in the comm, "Did you get the prime?"

Danny was confused at Ty's question, "What Prime?"

Danny heard the deep whirr and sputter of a Geth prime behind him. He slowly turned around and did the only logical thing in this situation. He jumped off the edge as the Prime fired a carnage shot.

Danny heard the explosion behind him and turned in the air to see Cody sneaking up behind the Prime. Danny hit the ground big time, landing on his head with a thud. Luckily, the sand broke his fall.

Danny blacked out for a few minutes and awoke to Ty pulling him up the ramp and Cody firing around the corner. Danny shrugged Ty off and staggered to his feet. Now, he wasn't the fun loving guy but someone who was the devil when angry. Danny reached behind him and pulled out his shotgun.

Danny pushed past Cody and began blasting the Geth with his Katana shotgun. Knowing that they would be fighting Geth, he had disrupter rounds installed on it. After one shot the Prime's shields dropped to zero, after two shots the Geth was struggling to decide who to target, Danny or Cody. Danny fired one last shot and the Prime dropped.

Ty pulled up the comm again, "Are we good to go?"

Danny hit the button on the side of his helmet and the mouth protector folded back up into the helmet, "Yeah, I'll meet you guy's up there."

Cody cut in, "Got it."

Danny looked at the Prime; this thing had pissed him off to the extreme for sneaking up on him. He reached down and pulled the core out of the Geth's chest, a fitting gift for his troubles. Danny just spat on the Geth after that and walked off to the AA gun control center.

Danny made his way up the ramp and across the structure into the control room. He saw Cody and Ty messing with the controls of the gun and making no progress. Danny wiped the sand off his armor and spoke.

"Any progress?"

Cody turned from the console, "None and we can't get ahold of Shepard. We have no idea how to do this."

Danny let a plan formulate in his head, "I know what to do!"

Ty continued to work on the controls, "Please, grace us with your wisdom."

Danny smiled, "Step back."

Ty stood up and backed away from the controls, "Okay, what do you plan on do-"

Danny cut Ty off by blasting the controls with his gun. Ty turned around, no doubt to give Danny an ear full when they heard the gun make a low whine and die out. Danny just smiled at Ty.

"Win", was all that was said.

**Shepard:**

Shepard blazed through the Geth like a hot knife through butter. Today was a great day, no hitches in the mission yet and the only thing that slowed them down was technical issues. That reminded Shepard, he needed to smack Danny upside the head next time he saw him for getting Tali sick.

Shepard rounded a corner in the canyon and saw a Geth Colossus was blocking his way. Shepard gritted his teeth and turned the wheel hard right. This caused the tank to power slide and ram into the Geth Colossus and knock it over.

Shepard hit the accelerator hard and shot off toward the second AA gun where the Users were supposed to be. To Shepard's surprise, it was within firing distance of the Geth Colossus. Shepard sped toward it and got a good look at the AA gun facility. He saw that the gun was peppered with shots from the Colossus.

Garrus said what he was thinking, "That can't be good."

Then, they all breathed a sigh of relief when Ty broke in on the comm, "Hey, Shepard, we are a ways from the AA gun. A Geth ship dropped off that Colossus that you rammed and we took off. It still thinks we are in the AA gun though."

Shepard gave a nod, "Alright, where are you guys?"

Cody cut in this time, "We are about half a click up the beach. I'm watching you guys through the scope of my rifle. I'll tell you if you go off course."

Shepard locked the speed and just headed strait, "Alright, see you guys in a bit."

Shepard just zoned until they got to the Users spot on the beach. Shepard saw Cody waving his sniper in the air to get their attention and immediately swung the Mako into a parking position. He got up and walked to the back of the Mako and hit the button to open up the back.

The ramp swung down and Shepard saw none of the Users were ready. Ty was talking with his armor. Danny was messing with some torn up piece of Geth tech. Cody was looking back the way Shepard came and then he looked back to Shepard.

"That Colossus is on its way."

Everyone looked at Cody and then sprinted into the Mako. Shepard then hit the accelerator and the take shot off down the beach and inland to the STG base camp. Shepard was happy that the camp was close. He had been sitting in the Mako too long.

Shepard was getting tired of keeping hit foot down on the accelerator and hit the switch for autopilot. I figured now was as good of time as any to chat with the guys and spun around in his seat. He saw that everyone was in to a story Garrus was telling except Danny who was messing with a piece of what looked like Geth technology.

Garrus was still talk from a conversation they had before Shepard got in, "So, I was sitting there with the half-naked criminal and my C-sec backup was just showing up!"

Everyone just busted out laughing and Cody spoke up, "What'd your commander say?"

Garrus began laughing even harder, "He called me into his office the next morning and said, 'don't tell me anything about the Santa outfit or the reason your pistol was disguised as a bunny. Just answer me this, why was that Asari hooker giving your rifle a blow job?'"

Even that sounded ridiculous to Shepard and he joined in on the laughter, "Okay, I got one."

Ty cut him off, "Actually Shepard, it's my turn."

Shepard had to hear this one, "Alright, lets here it."

Ty leaned forward and began, "Okay, so it was the day Mass Effect 3 came out. I had just gotten home from picking up the game at the local Gamestop. I sat down and threw the disk into my game system to play. All was fine and dandy until my girlfriend woke up. She was still asleep because she didn't go with me to the store to pick up my game."

Garrus cut in, "What's your girlfriend's name?"

Ty shifted his weight to his left elbow and balanced himself by grabbing his chair arm rest with his right hand, "fatty McBitchface, anyway, she comes out and sees that I am at the title screen. So she goes and-"

They were cut off there when the Geth box sparked and a blood red matrix code flowed from it. The matrix code covered everything and Shepard saw the Users disintegrate and disappear into nothing. Then the matrix just dissipated and left a confused Shepard and Garrus looking forward yelling.

"WALL!"

**Please leave me some feedback guys. I haven't gotten a pm or a review about how my current chapters are doing since Chapter 23. Just take a second and tell me what you thought of this chapter, Pm or Review, either way is fine.  
**


	29. Saren? KRATOS?

**This Chapter is coming out early thanks to the review by hab67t. If you guys review or PM I get chapters out faster because they give me the drive to do this. That was just one response I got and it took me two days to write this rather than a week or two. Remember that.**

**This week's Users is brought to you by computer circuit boards and Legos (Seriously, who doesn't like legos?) On to the chapter.  
ROAD HOUSE!**

**Cody:**

Cody fell to the ground in the weirdest way possible. It was weird because he was sitting in a tank and then he was floating in midair, upside down, and in a sitting position. Gravity quickly took hold and then he fell to his up, everyone else's down.

Cody hit the ground with a thud and felt a pain on the top of his head where he hit. He laid down for a moment and let the pain die down before sitting up. He looked around and saw Ty and Danny were both there with him. Cody opened his mouth to say something but was quickly cut off by a sly and well-spoken voice.

"Well, that worked quite well. Did you enjoy the trip?"

Cody looked over and saw Saren standing over them with two Krogan body guards. He had a Turian smirk and a strange aura about him. Something was different with his armor although, it looked pretty much the same. Saren waved off his body guards and walked over to the Users and offered his hand to them.

Ty reached up and slapped it away, "Three things: One, Get away from me. Two, How did we get here. Three, fuck you."

Saren wiped his hand over his face, "Ugh, I'm guessing you are the leader of your little trio."

Danny immediately stood up and walked over to Saren with his hand extended, "Actually, I am the big cheese here."

Saren scoffed, "You're the funny man", then he looked over at Cody, "And I'm guessing you are the odd one out, just lucky to be here."

Cody stood up and cracked his neck, "You can just suck it Saren."

Saren walked around the group but Cody wasn't looking at him. He was looking above them where Vrimire was. The entire map had formed above them, like in Call of Duty or Tomb Raider. Except, they weren't continuously falling, they were standing on a matrix code grid with Saren and his body guards.

Ty looked over and got Cody's attention with a follow my lead look, "So, Saren, how's it going?"

Saren Walked over to Ty and punched him in the face, "How is it going? Well, I have relived every lose you have delivered to me. Whether it be through a male or a female Shepard."

Ty looked over at Danny, "What?"

Saren tilted his head to give a serious look, "It's all because of this."

Saren pulled out a piece of armor that Cody never had seen before. He looked over to Ty and saw him looking at the armor with a fear and foreboding look. Ty reached out to take it but Saren quickly pulled it away.

"Ah, ah, ah, I need this. It has unlocked my mind and allowed me to see what I never could before."

Cody walked over to Ty and Saren, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Saren turned around and began walking toward Virmire, "Imagine, you lose over and over again and yet you never remember your last defeat. The cycle just restarts and you try again."

Ty cut in, "So, you remember every play through I have done?"

Saren roared, "More than that, I feel the pain of dying every single one of those times. All the anger I have faced from losing is now boiling to the surface. It is no longer about the Reapers coming or trying to save the galaxy."

Cody was afraid but he still asked, "What is it about?"

Saren let a dark laugh, "It is about wining in the only 'play through' that counts."

Then, Saren leaped forward and smacked Ty in the head. Ty was sent flying backwards by Sarens power and ended up hitting an invisible wall. Saren then turned to Danny and Cody.

"I have no quarrel with you. I offer you something instead of a fight. Join me and be gods, the power of a User is great and I have seen that but that daft AI Chakwas knows nothing of your true potential. In fact, she puts layer after layer of barrier code on you to keep you from attaining it."

Cody opened his mouth to retort but Danny put a hand on his shoulder and stepped past him. Danny put out a hand to shake Saren's. Saren gave a deep chuckle and reached out to take Danny's hand. Once they were in mid hand shake, Danny pulled Saren close and hit Saren in the side of the head with his elbow.

Saren stumbled back holding his Jaw in pain, "You insolent-"

"Shut up", Danny cut him off and gave an intense stare, "if you think I would betray anyone that is my friend, you got another thing comin'."

Saren turned toward them with a devilish and evil smile, "Fine, I have a backup plan."

Saren walked over to one to the Krogan and put his hand on its helmet, "You see, I have been freed from the process of being a dumb AI. Now, I can access things on the internet thanks to Ty having the program on his Xbox. I then found this guy on a torrent and have kept his coding for just an occasion."

Red matrix code blanketed the Krogan and he began to change. His shape changed to that of a man. His muscles grew and changed into that of a WWE wrestler on more steroids than usual. Then, his hump parted and reformed into two handles. With that the matrix fell and revealed the god killer Kratos.

Saren paid them no more attention and walked over toward Ty. Kratos on the other hand was walking toward them and cracking his knuckles.

**Ty:**

I got up and leaned against the wall of nothing next to me. I could barely feel my arms and I felt like Drew was saying something but I couldn't hear him. My eyes were still trying to focus but I saw Saren walking toward me with an enraged look on his face.

I began to hobble away but Saren caught up and lifted me into the air by the neck. I looked down at him and saw he pulled out a small round disk and placed it on my chest. Then, he smiled and tossed my again and this time I skidded across the floor for about twenty feet.

I got up and looked at Saren, trying to make and keep a smirk, "What's wrong Saren? Not as much energy as your first hit Saren?"

Saren smiled, "No, I just wanted you to be close enough so that I can see every ounce of pain."

I raised an eyebrow and was about to say something until I remembered the disc. I looked down and saw it blinking fast. I immediately tried to protect myself as best as possible when I finally heard Drew.

"It's an overload."

I gasped and then the overload went off and I felt pure blinding pain. Every cell in my body was firing off and exploding. I fell lifelessly to the ground as a white light over took my eyes.

Then, the pain stopped and I was with Drew. I looked at him and he was sparking and disintegrating from the feet up. He pulled the glaive off his back and it transformed into a knife. He then proceeded to cut his chest open and revealed a bright orb of light in the center of his chest.

I looked at him with confusion, "What is that?"

Drew was speaking in a thousand voices now, "It is the power you were gifted with to create us."

I looked at the orb, "My User ability?"

Drew nodded, "Yes take it."

I shook my head and stepped back, "No, keep it. We can make it."

Drew shook his head, "No, we can't. Saren's overload is killing us off cell by cell. We are about to fully collapse on ourself. You need to take the power and change."

I reached my hand out to shake Drew's and he pulled out the orb and put it in my hand, "It was a good ride while it lasted."

The world around us began to break apart and the disintegration was up to Drew's stomach now, "Do you have a plan?"

I smiled at Drew trying not to show him any sadness, "Nope."

That's when Drew's voice cracked and he fully dissipated while saying, "Well, you're a User-"

I woke up and immediately tucked in to take any blows Saren might give. When nothing happened I looked around and saw I was alone. I looked at my body and saw my old Scorpion armor was back. That's when I heard a boom and saw Danny and Cody running from Kratos.

I clenched my fists and began sprinting to help them, "Improvise."

I caught up and got in between my friends and Kratos. I focused on an armor that could beat Kratos, anything that would give me the edge. I felt my mind come to the last demo I played and it came to mind. I felt my body and armor shifting and a helmet come over my face.

Kratos saw me and jumped into the air to initiate an aerial attack. He pulled back his swords and thrusted them at me. The flew at a faster rate than the normal me couldn't handle but now that I was wearing the Augmented Reaction Suit I could handle it.

I flipped back and dodged the blades, causing them to be stuck in the ground. While Kratos was busy trying to pull them out, I reached forward and activated the electric pulse on the chains causing Kratos to be electrocuted with thirty-two amps of concentrated electricity. I have to preorder vanquished when I get out of here.

I looked up at him and saw his skin was black and smoke was rising from his body. He looked like he was lying on the ground in a position I hoped was dead but he picked himself up with a roar and his eyes blood red. He yanked back his blades and put them on his back. Then, he pulled out the Blade of Olympus and charged even faster than before.

I quickly ran over to Danny and Cody, Danny was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed touching the grid floor while Cody watched as Kratos came toward them. I got within a few feet of them when I head Danny yell.

"I got it!"

Next thing I knew we were surrounded with green matrix code. The matrix code felt less forced like the red and it just dropped away rather than disappearing. It took a few minutes and seemed like it was trying to make everything perfect. Then it dropped away and we were standing on the Salarian base on Virmire.

I looked around and saw the Salarians staring at us with their mouth agape, pointing at us and whispering to one another. Behind that I saw Shepard and the others walking around the Mako that had crashed into the side of Saren's base of operations. I figured that they were the people to talk to now and headed out that way.

I ran over quick when the Salarian's eyes began to follow me and I was over to Shepard faster than I knew I could run. That's when I realized I was in the ARS and transferred back to my Scorpian armor. I have to say it was a weird and welcome feeling to not feel like I was naked and restricted like I was with Drew. Yet, I am still going to miss the guy.

I spoke up once I got close, "Hey, Shepard?"

Shepard turned around and looked at me like I was a new face, "Who the hell are… Ty?"

**Remember responses (reviews and PMs)= faster updates.**

**PSA announcement: Hey everyone, get ready because I am putting out a Christmas special. That's right, all my characters meet up in a non cannon episode so gear up and get ready because it comes out the 25th.  
**


	30. One final rest HOLLY SHIT!

**Hey, Users is now out and ready to be enjoyed. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and like the end. This is out late because I updated my last fic Losing Humanity. If you haven't seen it, check it out and tell me what you think.**

**Oh, it is chapter 30 and that means answering fan mail:  
**

**Question 1: Will Kratos return?  
**

**Answer 1: Kratos can move mountains and killed the gods so I am pretty sure he can break some rules of coding.  
**

**Question 2:What does the red matrix code represent?  
**

**Answer 2:The red matrix code will show you when someone that is not a User is manipulating code. Outside that I can't tell you because of spoilers.  
**

**Question 3: Are you really going to wrap this up by the twenty third?  
**

**Answer 3: Sadly, no. I have gotten way too detailed in these last chapters to make it by then. We are at least looking into the deep thirties.  
**

**ROAD HOUSE!**

**Tali:**

Tali stepped off the Normandy and immediately polarized her helmet so it looked like it was night. Chakwas had finally found all the right meds to clear the alcohol from her system but the migraine would still be around for a half an hour. That meant extra sensitivity to light and sound.

She made her way down the ramp and over to Shepard who was talking to Ty, Danny and Cody. The way he was looking at them told her that he was worried. His body language made it seem like stress was boiling up inside him. Tali couldn't wait to hear this.

She walked up behind Ty, Danny and Cody as they waited for Shepard to finish, "So, the deal is that I need you guys with the bomb so Williams and Alenko can go with the Salarians and provide them support."

Danny raised his hand, "Does that mean we have to stay with the ship for the fight to the area that we are to plant it?"

Shepard thought for a moment, "I don't think we can afford to have anyone stay with the ship. This isn't adult swim here, everyone needs to get in."

Cody cracked his knuckles, "Ah, yeah, person with the least kills has to buy the drinks afterwards."

The Users began high fiving as Shepard left smiling and shaking his head. Tali looked at the Users and caught a glimpse of something she thought she would never see again. Ty had blue eyes again.

Danny and Cody saw Tali and took off nudging each other. Ty on the other hand didn't see her and was left wondering why his friends just took off and left him standing on the beach edge alone. He began looking around when he finally saw Tali.

"Hey, Tali, feeling better?"

Tali nodded, "Yes, Chakwas hooked me up with some medication. Now, the hangover is gone but the migraine is going to be around for a while."

Ty crossed his arms and let out a sigh, "Damn it, I should have seen that happening when you went out with Danny."

Tali pushed Ty and chuckled, "Hehe, you worry too much. I had a good time with Danny."

Ty looked at Tali confused then he gave that stupid smile he had on Noveria, "Well, I'm glad you and him had fun together."

Tali gave a playful tone, "Well, we will need to have a good time when this is over."

Ty froze for a minute a look of confusion along with his smile, "What?"

Tali nudged Ty's arm, "You heard me."

Ty let out an awkward chuckle, "Yeah, it's just that I have never heard you say that before."

"So, I like to surprise you."

Ty looked over to the water, "Yeah, it's just I have never heard you say anything like that. EVER."

Tali looked out to the water like Ty did. She saw the sun hanging in the air over the water giving it a sheen that told them that this was paradise and it was beautiful. Tali just enjoyed the scenery and took it in as the world around them stopped. It was just her and Ty standing on a beach with nothing to worry about.  
"That looks beautiful, don't you think?"

Ty looked at it with admiration, "Yeah, it looks good. If there wasn't the base of an evil mastermind's penitentiary of death behind us it would look even better."

Tali shook her head and rolled her eyes, "You just can't enjoy beauty."

Ty's smile changed into a smile at ease, "I can enjoy beauty. I just can't if I know there is trouble."

Tali slid her arm behind Ty's back, "You need to calm down. Just because it might be the end of the world doesn't mean we have to fret about it."

Ty took Tali into a hug, "This isn't the end of the world. I have seen it and it isn't as beautiful as this."

Tali spoke softly, "So you do admit that the scenery is beautiful."

Ty just kept a calm voice, "I wasn't talking about the scenery."

**Danny:**

Danny and Cody sat in the Salarian outpost eating some rations before the fight. They would need every ounce of strength to win, especially now that Kratos was in the game. Danny pulled out his desert from the rations pack and began to take a bite.

"What do you have for desert?"

Danny realized that Cody asked him a question on a subject he didn't consider, "Um, I don't know."

He saw Cody look from the desert to Danny, "You are going to eat that and you don't even know what it is?"

Danny looked down at his ration and saw it was white and green meshed together, "It looks like lime pie", Danny then looked at the packaging and was disgusted by what it said, "never mind, it's chocolate cake."

Cody put his hand out gesturing at the desert, "So, are you going to eat it?"

Danny thought for a moment and looked at the desert, he was about to throw it away but food was food. He took a big bite out of it and was cautious at first, chewing it carefully. He was ready to spit it out at the moment it tasted bad. Danny let the taste get to his tongue and then he hesitated.

Cody quickly began to panic, "Does it taste good or is it a complete piece of shit?"

Danny swallowed his bite and looked at Cody with the gravest look ever, "I think I might die… from the deliciousness of this treat."

Cody socked Danny in the shoulder, "You fucking troll."

The two had a good laugh as the continued eating there meals in quiet. Danny finished his meal and had the strangest feeling that they forgot something. It was on the tip of his tongue yet he couldn't figure it out. This was going to annoy Danny all day.

Cody finished off his meal and turned to Danny, "Sure is great Ty got his ability to manipulate armor back."

Danny nodded and smiled, "Yeah, who knows where we would be if he didn't stop Kratos by manipulating his armor."

Cody stood up, "well, I'm going to go see how much longer."

"Alright, see you later."

Danny began so sit back when it finally came to him, "We didn't get Wrex's armor."

**Shepard:**

Shepard swallowed and rubbed his neck. He couldn't put it off any longer, he needed to settle Wrex down or end him for being too much of a liability. Shepard came up to Wrex who was firing his shotgun at a rick giving their position away to any scouts nearby.

Shepard had to resist the urge to hit him for pulling such a stupid move. He needed Wrex with them for sure. Shepard thought of what to say to the guy but decided a question would be better than a statement.

"What's up Wrex?"

Wrex turned to Shepard giving him the evil glare, "I don't know Shepard, you tell me. That's all I am good for here is taking your commands and thoughts right?"

Shepard felt his eye twitch in anger, "I have never been like that with you Wrex. You know that, you are a part of my team and part of this mission. Hell, you probably have a bigger stake in it than anyone else."

Wrex's glare intensified, "Really, because it seems like what I should be fighting for, you want to destroy. You might want to give me some clarity here Shepard because the line between friend and foe is getting blurred."

Shepard intensified his glare with Wrex, "Look at the idiot you're making yourself out to be. You wonder why Krogan are looked down upon? It's because of idiots like you who will fight and fight and fight for whoever you think profits you best and not the moral side, the one that is fighting for the greater good."

Wrex pulled out his pistol and Shepard countered with his shotgun, "You really want a go there? Who has found a cure for the genophage? Who has already started to give it to other Krogan, my people?"

Shepard snarled, "Those people had to pledge their loyalty to a Turian, one of the races that inflicted the genophage on you."

"Who cares? As long as I can have children and restore the Krogan to their former glory, nothing else matters!"

Shepard's grip tightened on his shotgun, "What about us Wrex? We are your family too. They say that if you have bleed in the same trench as the man next to you then you two are brothers. That makes all of us your family. Are you going to betray us too?"

Wrex tightened his grip but slackened his arm. Shepard knew that either Wrex would drop his pistol or they would be taking him home in a body bag. Both men were ready should the other move. Time was at a standstill. The next three seconds are all that matters.

**I'm cutting this chapter short because I can't decide if I want to kill Wrex or let him live. Well, guess it is up to you. Leave a review telling if you want him to live or die and your thoughts on this chapter or vote on the poll on my profile page. I already have five votes to die.  
**


	31. Into the Breach

**So here is the chapter, sorry it is two weeks late. I got sick again and it wasn't as easy to get over as the last time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter even though it pained me to write it.**

**Ty:**

I gazed out into the water holding Tali tightly. I found myself wondering how data could make me feel like this. I felt at ease, like everything would be alright and I wasn't trapped in a video game. I was here by choice. Then, that all was shattered by Wrex's sudden yelling.

I let go of Tali and looked at Wrex and Shepard who had guns pointed at each other with determined stares. Both were ready to kill the other. I began searching for something to stop them and saw Danny sneaking up behind Wrex. He had a taser omni-blade active and was about to make a move when the group got quiet and Wrex heard him sneaking up. Wrex whipped around and charged full force towards Danny.

Danny tried to jump of the way but Wrex batted him to the side like a plastic bag floating through air in his path. Danny flew off into the water and Wrex got out of Shepard's shotgun range before he could take a shot. Wrex, however, had his pistol and fired on Shepard sending a shot through his shoulder and leg causing Shepard to fall to one knee in pain.

Wrex continued to charge at a Salarian in the shelters. The Salarian began running to the back of the shelter and put boxes between him and Wrex but Wrex's superior strength smashed through the boxes with ease and grasped the Salarian. Wrex pulled his gun up and was ready to pull the trigger.

I was on autopilot thanks to the video game skill I had adopted. I pulled up my sniper rifle and took aim. I was an engineer and didn't have the skills to use a sniper but it was the only thing that could stop Wrex from this range. I aimed for his midsection hoping to stop him and pulled the trigger

The bullet didn't go to my mark but flew on its own accord. The bullet flew up and straight through Wrex's skull. Wrex's body rag dolled helplessly to the floor of the small facility and on top of the Salarian. I stood and began shaking violently without moving from my position.

Tali saw what had happened and put a hand on my shoulder and another on my gun. She pressed down on the barrel causing me to lower at and my head at the same time. I was the one who killed Wrex. _Damn it, I never even thought of his armor._

I began to mentally re-run through everything that had just happened. Thinking of where I went wrong and how I could have reacted differently. There had to be something that I could have done different, just something. My hands tensed around my rifle and I stiffened up, I could feel my knuckles turning white.

That's when I felt arms around my waist and I realized Tali was hugging me from behind. Any other time this would have been comforting but I needed to do something, I couldn't just stand by the beach anymore. I turned back to Tali and returned the hug.

"I have to check what's going to happen now", then I turned from her and began striding to Shepard who was now doubled over in pain.

I looked from Shepard and saw Danny just getting to shore soaking wet and removing pieces of his armor to drain the water. I was about to walk over to him when he saw me and then pointed to Shepard. I could guess that he wanted me to fix him up since nobody else in the game carried medi-gel besides Shepard and me.

I kneeled next to Shepard and applied medi-gel. It took only a few seconds to heal his injuries. Shepard grabbed my arm and looked at me with a determined stare. I helped him up and he stepped away from the group and out into a spot where everyone could see him. He began looking over everyone and paced back and forth.

"This is what Saren does", he gestured over to Wrex's dead corpse, "he tears us apart with his strategies. He wants us to question each other and our loyalty. Don't remember Wrex for what he just did. Remember him as the Krogan that you trusted to watch your back in a pinch. He died because of Saren", Shepard looked over at me, "not because of any of us. This is the line in the sand. Saren just crossed it. So, let's show him what happens when you cross the line."

Everyone began cracking knuckles and readying guns. Even I got a smirk from the anger and motivation I was feeling. Shepard was right; this was Saren and his rule breaking. No matter what happened now, I was going to be the one to kill the Turian cyborg.

I pulled the sniper rifle off my back and cast it off to the side. I figure that if I can't use it then there is no point in carrying it around anymore. Besides, if I am going to kill Saren I am going to make it as painful as possible by ripping him apart bit by bit.

I looked over to the Salarians lining up by a door into the facility. I reach for my assault rifle but I realized that I still didn't have one so I had to settle for my Shotgun again. I ran over to meet up with the Salarians who were all were stacked up in a breaching maneuver so I jumped in line next to their leader. He looked back at me and raised an eyebrow. I just gave a thumbs up and signaled that I was ready.

He just nodded and turned back to the door. He hit the green button and stepped into the facility with his gun leveled. I followed him and we entered in through a narrow hallway. Surprisingly, the hallway lacked resistance.

I looked back behind us once that no Geth were confirmed in the hallway and saw Danny and Cody trailing in the back of the pack. Danny was still sopping wet and Cody had a look of assurance on his face. I nodded to them and continued to move forward.

We moved down the hallway till we reached an elevator. That's when the Salarian turned back to me, "This is the first gun. Shepard said you and your friends are like artillery so we will need you to form a safe perimeter as we take down the gun."

I nodded to his order, "Alright, we got your back captain… what's your name?"

The Salarian pointed to his chest at a name tag that read Kirrahe. I patted him on the shoulder and motioned to Danny and Cody to follow me into the elevator. We stepped in and I hit the button to go up. I looked at the Salarians and gave a smirk as the door closed to go up.

The elevator started going up and Danny asked the question, "What's the plan?"

I just shrugged, "Cut loose, we are Users. We improvise."

I heard Cody chuckle and Danny crack his knuckles. I, myself, began flexing my fingers into a fist. The elevator made a ding sound letting us know we were at the top floor. I pulled my shotgun up for a good surprise for whoever opened the door. I was surprised to see a Geth prime standing by the doors, it surprised me more by talking.

"Halt, state your business."

I was frozen but Danny managed to get a word in, "To fuck your mother!"

The Geth prime was stunned by the answer and gave me a second to blast it in the chest with my shotgun and drop his shields. This allowed for Danny and Cody to gun him down. Bad thing was that behind him was a whole squadron of Geth.

My first reaction was to manipulate my armor but I didn't know what the cooldown time on it was so I decided to save it for Saren and went with the simple option. I reached down and grabbed the Gath Prime's uber rifle at the same time I holstered my shotgun.

I pressed down on the trigger and began mowing down the geth.

**Shepard:**

Shepard sat at the console with Liara and Garrus. He couldn't decide if he was going to send more Geth toward the Salarian's and User's way or just leave them. Shepard was tired from the fight earlier whereas the Salarians had been sitting pretty. Then again, the Users were in the same boat he was.

Shepard had no idea what to do and couldn't decide which choice to make. He looked over to Garrus and looked for any opinion that could push him either way. What he got was a look of rage and determination. Shepard new what that meant and he backed away from the console. They were going to cut through the Geth like a hot knife though warm butter.

Shepard walked up to the security door and pulled out his new HMWA specter assault rifle. This was going to be fun taking down Geth, especially with a spectre weapon. Shepard smirked and hit the button and aimed down his sights at the door.

It opened up to reveal a husk standing in hisway; Shepard reacted quick and fired his rifle. It packed such force that it dropped the husk and sent it sliding across the room. Shepard and his crew ran into the room and unloaded on a squad of Geth blocking their way. Shepard wanted to laugh at how he was afraid of how many troops were ahead of him a few seconds ago.

The team cut down another two Geth and Garrus used his omni-blade to behead the third. Shepard watched the Geth fall to the ground and gave a whistle. That blade was effective, which was for sure.

Garrus turned to Shepard and Liara to give a triumphant smirk but didn't get the chance because he was bashed to the side by a Geth Destroyer. Shepard brought up his rifle but was hit by a carnage shot and flew backwards into a crate. He opened his eyes to see the Destroyer charging Liara.

Shepard looked over to Liara and only could hear the ringing in his ears. He propped himself up and pulled out his pistol but the force of the prime's attack made his vision out of focus. Shepard snapped his eyes shut and shook his head to refocus. When he opened them he saw Liara hit the Destroyer with a throw, blowing it apart.

Liara looked over to Garrus who was just getting up and then she looked to Shepard. He was still sitting propped up against the box. She reached his side and kneeled next to him. Shepard just waved her off and holstered his pistol.

"We need to keep moving. There is no time to stop."

Garrus and Liara reluctantly nodded and Shepard got to his feet. They began cutting through the Geth with little to no trouble with the remaining forces. Finally, they got to an opening where they heard a voice calling for help.

**Okay, please leave a review or PM. I always need feedback. I just found out yesterday that people are starting to read my story because it has quite a few reviews so if you want to help me bring in more people and get the story even better. Just leave a review in that box down there. If you don't want to be associated with an SI, I understand, leave me a PM.**


	32. Can't Tell if Indoctrinated or Just Dumb

**Hey, Users is back. Sorry it took so long, my weeks became very cluttered and full of stuff that the only time I had was devoted to sleeping. Anyway, this would have been postponed till Monday so I could write it over the weekend but I got something that lit a fire of inspiration. Fan Art!****I would show it and post the link but I can't do that in FF sorry. If you want to see it then just PM me and I will send you the link. Though, I doubt any of you would care I just want to throw that out there. Now without further a due, Users .**

**Shepard:**

Shepard looked around to where the voice was coming from. He couldn't pin point it from just hearing it once. Shepard kicked himself in gear and continued to move across the catwalk they had just come to. He got to the other side and saw three paths.

Shepard looked at the elevator to the ramp and over to a door, he had to choose one. Shepard thought for a moment and decided to head up. He came into a room full of cells that held Salarians. Shepard looked around to see if a guard was stationed there then over to the Salarians.

"Who are you, why are you in these cells."

"The voices, the voices, we are slaves to the voices. Here to do their bidding and follow their plan", was all that was replied from the cell.

Shepard looked from the cage to Liara, "Do you know what he is saying?"

Liara bit her lower lip and began rubbing her chin. She looked like she was having an argument inside her head and losing. Then she froze and nodded for a second then looked back up at Shepard.

"Remember what my mother said? Saren has weird power thanks to the ship. What is this is just the ship taking people's mind without Saren to help? "

Shepard rolled his eyes, "Please, a ship that is alive and can use telepathic connection to control people that's as ridiculous as-"

"A plant that can control minds and knows about an ancient robot that wiped out the prothians", Liara asked with an eyebrow raised.

Shepard froze for a moment then quickly regained his composure, "Alright, we won't rule it out. That being said, should we help them?"

One of the Salarians began banging the door and foaming at the mouth, "The voices want you dead! You must die!"

Garrus was the one who spoke first, "My vote is that we don't release the insanely homicidal Salarians."

Shepard nodded in agreement and headed back for the door out. The trio quickly ran back to the room and looked around. Shepard looked over to the exit beside the elevator and took off in that direction. Through the door was a small office with another exit.

Shepard rolled his eyes at how many rooms he had gone through so far. Shepard continued through a few more doors and to another cell area with another group of Salarians. Shepard looked at the cells and saw that these Salarians weren't talking but just standing around with tired blank looks on their faces.

Shepard just sighed at another wrong turn and began to leave when he heard someone speak, "Is anyone there?"

Shepard turned around and looked back at the holding cells, "Where are you?"

He saw a Salarian come up to the window of the cell and press it's face to the glass. It waved to them and was looking desperate. Shepard looked at the Salarian in the eyes and searched for anything that could show some sign of sanity still there. The Salarian gave a look that said 'are you coming?,

Shepard sighed and ran over to the Salarian, "Okay, what's your story?"

The Salarian sneered, "Speaking like that I can only assume you saw the others in the", he brought his fingers up to make air quotes, "test subjects. Well, it makes sense that you would be cautious around us down here."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Why would you be different down here?"

The Salarian pointed to the boxes next to him, "They were my team, we came here to rescue the last Salarians you saw. When we got to them they were screaming about voices and turned on us. We ended up getting captured and thrown in here. From what I could tell, they took my men to their ship and they came back like that."

Shepard turned to the others, "This guy doesn't seem like the rest, should we release him?"

Garrus looked at the Salarian then back to Shepard, "chances are slim here Shepard, let's leave him and head to Saren."

Liara spoke next, "The Salarian could be of use to us. I think we should let him out and bring him with us."

Shepard thought for a moment then came to his own conclusion, he then hit the button and opened the door for the Salarian, "Okay, this is your chance. I am letting you out but this is it. Start running."

The Salarian gave a half-hearted smile, "Release me and then tell me to run like hell. Guess it is a better chance of survival then I had in there."

Garrus spoke up before the Salarian could take a step, "You better run fast. There is a bomb on the way."

The Salarian gave a nod and then began sprinting as fast as he could. Shepard gave him a second to get out the door and then Shepard took off to leave too. He got back to the room and took the last exit that was still unexplored. Shepard got in the elevator and hit down.

The elevator raced downward faster than any other elevator Shepard had been on. The elevator hit the last floor so hard that Shepard fell to the floor and so did Liara and Garrus. Then the doors opened and revealed that the Geth had set a trap for them.

They were lucky because the Geth were aimed at where they would be standing instead of where they were now. This gave Shepard a chance to rip his assault rifle off his back and took aim. He unloaded the assault rifle and dropped the Geth in one sweep of fire.

Shepard smiled at how much his new rifle was coming in handy and got up. He looked back at Garrus and reached out a helping hand. Garrus slapped it away and stood up pointing ahead of them.

"You shouldn't waist your strength on me. We got more problems coming."

Shepard looked ahead of them and saw a swarm of Geth, Husks, and Krogan, "Shit."

**Danny:**

Danny and Ty stood back to back in a triangle court yard. There was an AA gun at every corner and Cody had taken a sniper position at the top of the north gun. The Salarians had begun to dismantle and cripple the AA gun while Danny, Ty and Cody were expected to keep the courtyard clear and allow for safe extraction after the guns were down.

Danny readied his omnitool in his right hand and a biotic throw in his left. It was at times like this that he cursed his power to manipulate weapons. Sure it was useful in a small fight but in a large one he had no chance at using it. That left him with the weapons on his back and his powers as a sentinel.

Ty one the other hand was gripping his wrist and readying to convert his armor at any time. It would take a couple seconds to convert like always but Danny would be able to defend Ty while the change took place. Once Ty was up and running the court yard should stay clear but it was up to Cody to keep the entrances into the guns clear.

Danny tightened his left hand, "You ready for this Ty?"

Ty chuckled, "In all honesty, no."

Danny cracked his neck and saw an elevator at the south ding as it began to open, "Well, I feel the same way."  
The door opened up and revealed a squad of regular Geth troopers. Danny hit them with an overload and then sent in the throw to finish most of them off. He quickly pulled out his pistol and finished the rest off with a few quick shots from his Stinger VI.

Danny turned to Ty and saw he was gone and taking on Geth coming in from the North-West corridors in the HEV suit from Half-Life. Danny looked back to the elevators and saw that two more were opening up on the left and right in the five elevator chain. Danny quickly brought up his Omnitool and readied a sabotage.

The elevators opened and Danny had little time to react as five destroyers printed out of the gates and strait at Danny. Danny fired off the sabotage at the closest Destroyer which made it turn around and drop the shield of one to its right before the other Destroyers were able to take it down. This gave Danny a chance to hit the one with its shields dropped with a lift and now he still had three to deal with.

Danny aimed his pistol and was cursing at the same time. He could take down two but three would be a challenge. Danny began firing at them but they closed in too fast and Danny had to back pedal to buy himself some time. Danny continuously focused fire on the one in the middle and he dropped the destroyer but he lost all his time and the other two closed in and began hitting him.

Danny took two shots to the face and then one to the stomach, this caused him to double over in pain as the Destroyers continued to hit him. Suddenly, one of them dropped and the other was pulled away. Danny opened his eyes and saw that the one that dropped was missing it's head and the other wasn't pulled away but blasted as evidence by the hole in his chest.

Danny pulled up his comm, "Nice job Cody."

Cody answered his thanks, "That wasn't me. I'm covering the North-West end."

Danny pulled out his assault rifle and took aim at the elevators. Once he was sure that no threats were coming he got up. He looked around for a second sniper but saw none. Cody looked back at the elevator and saw the last two open up with Geth primes. Danny aimed with his assault rifle and started to fire.

He noticed sniper shots coming in and helping him by hitting the Geth. Danny overheated his gun and looked back to see a Salarian at the top of the ramp to the North gun. Danny made a retreat up to him and turned back to the Geth prime.

"Hey, thanks for the backup buddy."

The Salarian stayed quiet until both Primes were dead, "No problem, noticed you weren't taking any advantages that Shepard said you had. Thought maybe you were having troubles and needed help."

Danny patted the guy on the back, "Indeed I did."

The Salarian was about to say something but Kirrahe came over the comm, "All forces, retreat to the north gun. We are finished here, time to move on."

Danny looked and saw Salarians retreating from the other two guns and sprint to the North gun where he was standing. Danny and the Salarian brought up their guns and provided covering fire for the Salarians. Helped Ty who was about to be trapped by four primes and the Salarain backed up Cody with more sniping.

Thanks to Danny's sniping Ty was able to retreat back to the gun just as his power died and his armor shifted back to normal. Ty got up the ramp and used his pistol to help Danny with the Primes. They were about to be over whelmed by the Geth when the last Salarian got up the ramp and in the AA gun tower.

Danny patted Ty and the Salarian on the back and the three ran into the facility. Danny looked and saw that there was an elevator inside of the circle room that acted as the gun's control center. Kirrahe was directing the Salarians to place charges around the room and then take the elevator down. He finished instructing the Salarians and then turned to Danny and Ty.

"Okay, we are almost finished here. We just need to place the charges in this room and then head down on the elevator. Do you think you can hold the Geth long enough to let us get out?"

Danny thought for a moment then looked over to Ty who was searching through a crate. Ty pulled up a medium Assassin armor and a Tsunami V. He nodded at his find and then turned back to the Salarian.

"We are going to crash their waves."

Danny just face palmed, "That was the worst word play I have ever heard."

**Alright, there's the chapter. Don't forget to Comment, review or PM me your thoughts about the story. It's what keeps me writing.**


	33. Jean Rhymes with Bison

**Hey, sorry this is late. I had some chairity stuff to do and then got caught up in an all-night marathon of Guren Lagan. Good news is that the marathon gave me some great ideas for the final fight and it was a good series. Bad news is that I procrastinated on this chapter and I am sorry.**

**Cody:**

Cody watched the last Salarian head into the facility and knew it was time to head in. Cody did as he did to get up the building and focused on his omnitool. Soon, it lit up and became an omniblade. Cody gave a nod and did the same to his other arm. Once he had two omniblades he began to climb down.

Cody stabbed one blade into the roof and swung himself over the side of the facility. Cody began to climb down the side like he would a latter, only difference was he was punching into walls with blades. Cody continued and looked down every few minutes to see how far he was.

Cody had gotten down fifteen meters of the fifty meter tall building when he took a glance down. He saw Ty and Danny holding a line at the top of the stairs and it looked like they would be able to hold it for a while. Cody climbed down another five meters and looked again and saw two geth prime at the top of the stairs causing Ty and Danny to have to back to the door.

Cody cursed and began climbing as fast as he could to the guys. Cody was fifteen meters to the top of the entrance when the urge to look was too much and he took a look at how the others were doing. They had killed both Geth Prime and had a Salarian with them. Cody almost let a sigh of relief until four destroyers rushed the trio.

Cody felt his body get taken over by reaction and he brought his legs up and pushed off the wall and began to fall. Cody then spun himself around in the air and aimed at the Cody came down he stabbed his two omnitools into a Geth Destroyer and landed on top of it.

Cody got up and ran to the others who were finishing the last three destroyers. Cody ripped his assault rifle off his back and formed up with the others. They all began to drop Geth until Ty gave an order.

"Everyone inside!"

There was no order or rhythm to their retreat. They all turned tail and ran into the facility. Cody didn't know where to go but everyone ran into an elevator and Cody got in too. Ty hit the button and the elevator went down.

Cody let a breath out and looked over at the Salarian, "I don't believe I have met the fourth wheel."

The Salarian looked at Cody and stuck his hand out for a hand shake, "I am Jean, STG second in command."

Cody shook his hand and Ty cut in, "Why did you stay behind with us Jean?"

Jean reached back into his pocket and pulled out a detonator, "Kirrehe wanted me to make sure you guys got out and we didn't want to light the explosives with you up there."

The elevator came to their stop and everyone piles out. Ty took the lead and headed down the small hallway they were released to and headed to the place Kirrehe set a waypoint to. Cody took the back and saw Jean hit the button on the detonator. Immediately the hallway vibrated and then came back to a still.

Nobody missed a beat or even pretended to notice so Cody just continued to move. They had gone about fifty yards in utter silence for one reason or another. Cody wanted to break the ice in any way he could and so he said the first thing that came to mind.

"So, what's going to be the deal with extraction?"

Immediately Ty stopped and the others ran into him, Danny was the first to collide and knocked Ty to the ground, "Hey, what's the deal?"

Ty got up and turned to Danny, he was pale white, "Shepard has to choose between us or Ashley and Kaiden."

Danny opened his mouth but for once nothing came out. All three of them sat and looked at each other. Cody realized that Ty and Danny hadn't thought about that before. Now was a time to make a decision.

Danny finally found some words, "Do we go with the Salarians or do we head back to Shepard?"

The all began to panic and look to one another in a panic hoping that someone else will make the decision for them. Cody wanted to go to Shepard, he didn't want to stay and die with just a couple computer programs. It wasn't like they were influential to the end anyway.

Cody wanted to step forward and make the decision but Jean beat him to the punch, "Look, I don't know what you are talking about and I can only assume that Shepard won't be able to save us all by what you are saying but I do have some input on it."

Cody felt bad that they were talking about leaving the Salarians right in front of their second in command so he gave the word, "Go ahead."

Jean had an intense look in his eyes as he spoke, "I know that to you and your powers make us look like a small time rooky unit with no way of really helping you later on but we do stand. We Salarians have proved our medal time and time again. Like Captain Kirrehe said before, we held the line. If you need to survive and you think that the only way you can do that is by leaving then go ahead but know that we will hold the line and ensure you can do that."

Jean stood and Ty put a hand on Jean's shoulder, "Alright, if you promise to hold the line. Then we promise to move that line forward, all the way to Shepard."

Danny put his hand on Jean's other shoulder, "Why the hell not, we have faced worst odds in multiplayer and came out alive."

Cody gulped and stood apart from the guys, "I will go, but if we die I am kicking all of your asses so bad that you will feel like heaven is hell."

Everyone began to laugh and Jean spoke for all of them, "Agreed."

**Shepard:**

Shepard and Garrus blew through the Geth with no problem and quickly defeated anyone who stood in their way. They finished off the last of the Geth and began to nod to each other when they both realized something was missing. Shepard thought for a moment and then called it out.

"Liara!?"

There was no answer at first and then they heard her on the other side of the wall, "Over here."

Shepard walked around the medium and saw Liara sitting by a desk looking through a computer. Shepard stumbled for a moment when he saw the giant Krogan dead by her feet. Shepard knew he was taking her out for a drink after this. If she could take down a Krogan without letting Shepard even realizing that there was a Krogan.

"What are you looking at Liara?"

Liara pulled an OSD out of the computer and put it in a pouch on her belt, "The reports for this part of the facility. It turns out that this Krogan was a head scientist in researching what they call indoctrination."

Garrus walked over to Shepard and Liara and looked down at the Krogan, "Doctor Droyas?"

Shepard pointed at the Krogan and looked at Garrus, "You know our Krogan friend here?"

Garrus gave a nod, "A few years back he was trying to find a cure for the Genophage on the Citadel. He figured that the last place that officers would be looking for a Genophage research lab would be in our own back yard. He was good about it too, we almost didn't catch him… almost."

Shepard looked back at the Krogan, "What happened?"

"We got word of what he was doing and had to stake out a few nights. We saw thirty-seven Krogan enter his place each day. That gave us reasoning for a warrant and we busted his operation. It also allowed us to give him the boot off the Citadel. He must have linked up with Saren after that."

Shepard nodded, "Huh, Poor bastard."

Garrus pulled his sniper rifle off his back and checked the sites, "Not that I don't enjoy story time Shepard but we need to keep moving."

Liara spoke before Shepard could, "Agreed."

The three moved out of the facility and onto a bridge that lead to a building that was entirely away from the rest of the base. Shepard decided it was worth a look and headed over to it. They got to the door and did a simple breaching maneuver. Once inside they didn't see anyone until an Asari peaked from behind the desk.

Shepard quickly pulled a pistol and trained it on the desk, "Okay, get out from there."

The Asari stood with her hands raised, "Don't shoot. I'm just a scientist, not a soldier."

Shepard looked back at Liara and Garrus and nodded to them, they all began spreading out through the room to surround the Asari, "What's up there?"

The Asari gulped, "Saren's private lab. He goes up there from time to time."

Liara spoke to Shepard, "That could mean he is up their right now."

The Asari shook her head, "He's not. He left a while ago to tend to some business."

Shepard fired a shot into her computer, "What business?"

The Asari coward and spoke as fast as possible, "I don't know, I just started here. Look, I can open his lab for you. You can check for yourself and see he isn't there."

Shepard nodded to her and she pulled up a data pad. The Asari hit a few buttons on her pad and the door to the lab lit green. Shepard looked at Garrus and gave a nod. They all put their weapons away but Garrus kept his hand on his pistol.

"Okay, you better start running. A bomb is about to go off and when it does it will wipe out this whole facility and then some."

The Asari's eyes grew wide, "A bomb!? You expect me to out run the explosion?"

Garrus spoke with a Turian smirk, "Clocks ticking."

The Asari let a gasp and took off out the door. Shepard, Liara and Garrus all went in and saw that it was just a front room for an elevator. The three piles in and hit the button. Saren's elevator was the slowest that Shepard had ever been in. He was surprised at the slowness but then again the last one they were in wasn't necessarily the safest.

They came to the floor and immediately sped out of the elevator. They made a sweeping motion through the room and all met on the rise near the hologram of Saren's Ship. Once they were sure that Saren left no guards they holstered their weapons and walked over to the hologram.

"Liara, can you get me the blueprints for Saren's flag ship?"

Liara gave a nod and stepped up to the computer terminal and began hacking. She had only been there for a few seconds when the terminal buzzed and Liara was electrocuted and shot bad into Garrus. Following that they all heard a screeching noise that sounded like a trashcan lid that needed oil.

Garrus helped Liara back to her feet, "What in god's name was that?"

Thea a deep voice spoke in their minds, "You're not Saren."

**There is the chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Tell me your thoughts on Jean. Like him hate him. He will be a returning character in the next book if you guys like him enough. Also, to settle a bet. Who is your favorite User. Just PM me that or put it at the bottom of a review if you decide to.**


	34. Reapers, Reapers, and More Salarians

**Hey, this is chapter so that means I am not going to finish the story by chapter 35 like I had hoped. So you know, it's longer than I thought, Yay?  
Anyway, it's also the chapter before 35 which means send me a PM or leave a review with a question and it will be answered in the next chapter.  
Sit back, relax, and enjoy becasue Users 34 is here.  
ROAD HOUSE!  
**

**Shepard:**

Shepard looked at the hologram of Sovereign and began to speak but was cut off by Liara, "What is that? Some kind of VI?"

The hologram lit up and flashed red as it began to speak, "Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding."

Garrus nudged Liara in the side, "I don't think this is a VI…"

As if the hologram heard him it answered back, "There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."

Shepard felt a sweat start to accumulate on the back of his neck, "Sovereign isn't just some Reaper ship Saren found. It's an actual Reaper!"

The hologram kept a monotone voice but the message that it held was clear, "Reaper? A label created by the protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us irrelevant. We simply are."

Liara felt as if something was wrong and spoke out before anyone else, "The protheans vanished 50,000 years ago. You couldn't have there. It's impossible!"

"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before, you are nothing. Your existence is inevitable. We are the end of everything", the hologram retorted with vicious reaction.

Shepard made sure the not show any signs of the dread at what he was hearing and kept a brave face, "There is an entire galaxy of races united and ready to face you."

"Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken", the hologram spoke back.

While Shepard was feeling fear Liara came at it with unhealthy intrigue, "Cycle? What cycle?"

The hologram let another growl noise and answered her question, "The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forget the mass relays. The merely found them, the legacy of my kind."

Shepard saw their talk as a chance to get information out of the Reaper and asked it another question, "Why would you construct the mass relays, and then leave them for someone else to find?"

"Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays, our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You must exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it", the hologram while sounding monotone had a certain pleasure in its retort.

Garrus: They're harvesting us! Letting us advance to the level they need, then wiping us out!

Shepard: What do you want from us, slaves and resources?

Sover: My kind transcends your very understanding. We each a nation. Independent, free of all weakness. You cannot grasp the nature of our existence.

Shepard began pushing his luck and continued to ask questions, "Where did you come from? Who built you?"

"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure", Sovereign was getting fed up with Shepard and he could tell by the shortening answers.

Shepard needed one last question, "Where are the rest of the Reapers? Are you the last of your kind?"

"We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom",As Sovereign said that the room got darker and Shepard was finally seeing how doomed they were.

Shepard decided that when in doubt, fake it, "You're not even alive. Not really. You're just a machine. And machines can be broken."

Sovereign left his reply as if he was talking to a disobedient puppy, "Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."

Suddenly, widow's shattered and the room began to shake. Shepard felt a force pulling him forward to the edge of the platform that he was standing on. Shepard began to fight against it and win until Garrus, who was stumbling from the earthquake, knocked into him and sent him off the platform.

Shepard instead of falling floated toward the one thing he didn't want to see right now. A Prothean beacon was it up at the edge of the lower platform and lit up like a Christmas tree. It took Shepard like the other one did and began sending information to his brain. Shepard felt less pain than the first time which he contributed to the cypher.

Like before, the beacon dropped him but Shepard was good enough to land this time. He extended his legs and managed to stay on his feet rather than fall on his ass. Shepard began to reorganize his thoughts and pushing the vision to the back of his mind rather than the front. Soon, Shepard had his mind back in order and the earthquake had stopped.

Shepard walked over to the ramp and up to Garrus and Liara when Joker cut in, "Commander, we're in trouble!"

Shepard could tell the urgency and immediately replied, "Hit me Joker!"

Garrus got his two cents in before Joker started speaking, "Better not take the hot Shepard. You look like it will knock you on your ass."

Shepard flipped Garrus the bird as he listened to Joker, "That ship, Sovereign? It's moving. I don't know what you did down there but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half. It's coming your way, and it's coming hard! You need to wrap things up there—fast!"

Shepard thought quick and made the call to Liara and Garrus, "Let's head to the breeding facility, Joker can pick us up after we set the nuke."

**Ty:**

Jean led us to the area the Salarians headed to. It was a giant centralized AA gun that was smack dab in the center of the facility. Luckily there was no Geth which means that they must have all been called to attack us in the central courtyard. _That's what I keep telling myself anyway_.

The part of me that is all about reality says that Saren will be back and he knows what happens today. That either means he will try to kill Shepard or me and last time I checked, it was me. Now, if he does come for me, I have to be ready.

I began walking around the AA gun in my new armor and holding the Tsunami. The new assault rifle made me feel a little better but over all I knew it wouldn't beat Saren. The only thing that would is my power as a User.

I pulled my hand from my weapon and flexed my hand into a fist and like before, matrix code began to fall down from the top of my vision to the bottom. I would need something really big to beat Saren or at least what he wouldn't be thinking and catch him off guard.

I decided I had scoped enough of the area and turned to head back to Danny and Cody. They went into the AA gun to catch their breath and check for supplies. I walked up the stairs and in to see Cody holding a Naginata X and in heavy Liberator armor.

"I see you have already found upgrades."

Cody looked up from his find to me with a smile, "Hells yeah, I am going to be set for when the Geth get here."

I looked back at the entrance and saw Salarians carrying out heavy technical equipment to use as cover, "What's up with the cover?"

Cody began pulling off his Onyx armor but still spoke, "Kirrehe asked Danny if we were going to push for Shepard or stay here and hope he comes to us. Danny said that we should stay here and fortify our position."

What Cody said caught me off guard, "Wait, Danny made the call?"

Cody took off the last of the Onyx armor so he was just in his under armor and looked up at me, "Yeah, he says he's second in command. The Salarians think you are in charge of us. They keep calling us User squad."

I clenched my teeth, "Where is Danny?"

Cody pointed out the door, "He took a explosive mod for his pistol and needed to use a tool box to insert it."

"Thanks", was all I said before I took off after Danny. I was going to kick his ass for sure. Making a call without telling me, making a call without all of us talking about it, and just generally pissing me off. If he wanted to get under my skin then he damn well did.

I got out the door and down the ramp and began looking for Danny. He wasn't hard to find, he was leaning over a box and working on his pistol while everyone else was fortifying the cover. I began cracking my knuckles and went up to him.

"What the hell were you thinking saying we should stay here!?"

Danny didn't say anything for a couple seconds then he picked up his pistol and holstered it and spoke, "I figured Shepard would choose us and instead of Kaiden and Ashley. He is a paragon after all."

I began to clench my fist and get angrier at what Danny was saying, "Shepard isn't Paragon, I don't know what the hell he will do! He is being Renegade and Paragon! One second he will be a good guy and the next a dick! Oh, and let's not forget he fucking hates your guts and his girlfriend will be with the bomb!"

Danny looked around and then spoke in a low voice, "Uh, keep it down. The Salarians can hear you."

I did not want to be silent, this was an utter shit storm that Danny had gotten us into and it was just getting worse by the second. I felt my teeth begin to clench and before I knew it I had given him an uppercut to the face. Danny just took the shot and looked at me feeling the blood dripping from his lip.

Danny wiped the blood away and then jumped to the other side of the cover and put his fists up. I took the challenge and jumped over the cover to meet him. Both of us began moving in a circle and I flashed back to the Krogan from Noveria.

Danny was now the immovable object and I was the unstoppable force. We got in close and Danny used his height advantage on me to get in some quick punches to my face but I managed to dodge is third punch and get in close to deal some punishment to his body.

It didn't work at first because of Danny's armor but I finally found a chink right where the breast plate ends. The got Danny to lean over in pain and I was able to get him in a choke hold and lock my legs to bring him down. I didn't think that Danny would be able to pull anything and would end up like Anderson Silva but he managed to catch my jaw with a punch as we went down effectively giving him the upper hand.

Danny then made his way to my arm and tried to lock up a camorra hold. I quickly began rapidly punching the back of his head with my fist until he lost his focus and let me go. I immediately rolled away from him and got up to my feet.

Danny did too and began to smile at me to say, "Bring it on."

I took off running at him and morphed my armor as I did so. The only armor on my mind was Megaman. I felt the shift as my body changed and the robotic enhancements took hold. My right arm shifted into a buster cannon and I got in close enough. I brought my hand back to hit Danny who was still smug as can be but stopped short.

A white hand was on my shoulder and a roar was coming from behind me. I turned around to see Kratos and he wanted in on the fight.

**Don't forget to leave a Question in the form of a PM or the review section below. Seriously bro, do you really not have enough time to ask a question?**


	35. A Spartan Warior Does Not

**Hello User fans, chapter 35 is coming out earlier than usual. Why? Because I felt like it.**

**Now, it's question time (Or statements that I have a retort to):**

**Question 1: What will happen once the game finishes, since ME doesn't have unlimited play time?**

**Answer 1: Well, if you checked out the rewrite of chapter one I mentioned that Ty installed the games onto his Xbox hard drive. Now, I am not going to say more. You can just keep reading to see how I pull it off.**

**Question (Statement) 2: The one main problem is that you sometimes get words jumbled up.**

**Answer 2: Well, what can I do? Both my betareaders flaked on me so I am just writing and doing my best to edit. If someone is a good betareader and is good with grammar then send me a PM. Love to have your help.**

**Question (Statement) 3: A little odd with the Sovvy conversation.**

**Answer3: Well, that's what happens when the Users aren't around to mess with things. The game shifts back to normal.**

**Now, onto the story. **

**ROAD HOUSE!**

**Danny:**

Ty began running at Danny but Danny managed to hold his ground and keep his smile. He knew Ty was under a lot of stress and trying to make him wear some of it off. HE saw matrix code lash out from Ty as he started shifting into what looked to be Megaman. Suddenly, two blades shot out of the ground from where Ty was before with two chains attached to them.

Danny just held his ground and maintained his smile but began panicking inside and Kratos leaped out of the whole and managed to catch up to Ty with ease. Luckily, Ty was close enough that Danny was able to help him. Danny pulled his pistol off his side and thought of something that could handle Kratos's melee factor.

Danny's pistol shot out and formed into the gunblade from Final Fantasy VIII. He swung it right at Kratos when he was in striking distance and was able to weave the sword around Ty while doing so. Kratos saw the blade coming and managed to dodge backwards while doing so. That gave Danny a reason to use the gun part.

He quickly tensed on the trigger and managed to hit Kratos knocking him back further than he was intending. Danny immediately grabbed Ty by the shoulder and shook him. Once he got Ty's attention he pointed at Kratos.

"Tall, pale, and fugly is back."

Ty immediately pulled up his buster cannon and then yelled orders, "Kirrehe, shut the AA gun down. We are going to need the Mako for this guy. Cody, get your ass out here and provide sniper support."

Danny looked over at Kratos who had finished gathering his blades and was walking toward them, "What's our plan?"

Ty aimed his buster cannon at Kratos and kept a calm voice, "Figured I would supply long range fire until Cody gets out here. You keep him and mid-range, seriously, don't go toe to toe with this guy."

Danny shook his head no, "You took on Samus in hand to hand."

"Yeah, but she wasn't-", Ty was cut off as a Chaos blade split between them

Danny thought quick and stepped on the chain and grabbed it with his left hand. Kratos yanked the blade back and Danny with it. Danny got yanked straight at Kratos so quick he almost lost his grip but managed to hold, just barely.

Danny readied his blade and let go of the chain before Kratos could whip his off the chain. Letting go caused Danny to hit the ground and slide. Danny worked fast moving on instinct and reflex. He pointed his sword forward and once he was close enough, stabbed it into Kratos.

Danny smiled at how easy it was but that smile quickly faded. Kratos looked up from the sword in his chest to Danny and pulled up one of his blades. Danny thought quickly and threw his legs up and fired his gunblade which sent him flying backward, Danny moved just in time as he flew backward he saw Kratos making a wide swing holding his chians but Danny was just far enough away that he was able to avoid Kratos's attack.

Danny hit the ground with a thud and looked up and looked up at Kratos. He had a big hole in his chest from Danny's stab but it was sealing up. Danny knew that he couldn't let the bastard heal and began rapidly firing shots at Kratos.

Kratos took three shots before he pulled out a bow and took aim. Danny saw the super charged shot and looked back and forth for a place to hide. From where he was cover was too far away to get to and he had no way to hide from the attack.

Danny hefted the sword and felt that in the short time he hadn't moved, the stamina hit he took was catching up to him. Even if he could move there was no cover to move to which left him only one option. Danny pulled up the blade and took aim. He was going to have to shot the arrow before it got him.

Danny knew he wasn't a sniper but in this case he would try his best to aim. Danny waited until Kratos was about to fire and then he took the shot. Danny was a big cloud of smoke exploded from Kratos and Danny had hope that he had hit the arrow.

Suddenly, a projectile shot from the smoke and slammed into Danny knocking him back into a wall of a building. Danny saw Kratos walk from the smoke with his now healed wound and looking more pissed than ever. He had two glowing metal lion heads on his hands and was walking straight toward Danny.

Danny pulled up his omnitool and hit the medigel button and felt the scraps that he just got from sliding seal up. Danny then looked around for his sword and saw it several feet away. Danny reached forward and began crawling for his weapon. Danny got within reaching distance but was cut off as Kratos stepped in the way.

Danny looked up at his am saw that Kratos had a look of disappointment with Danny. Danny looked back up at him and maintained an unconquerable look. In the back of his mind he just continued to wonder where Ty had gone.

Danny looked around frantically for Ty but saw him nowhere. Danny looked back at Kratos who was raising the lion head on his left hand. Danny thought quickly and time slowed down. He focused a throw in his hand and right as Kratos finished winding up he hit him with a throw.

Kratos went flying backwards and started being hit by yellow orbs. Danny followed their firing path and saw Ty on top of the AA tower unloading with dual buster cannons. Danny took the distraction and got up to picked his gunblade up. He slowly hobbled over to some decent cover and began catching his breath, hoping Ty and Cody could take Kratos without him.

**Ty:**

"Take this you son of a bitch!"

I was unloading everything I had on Kratos, which was primarily buster cannon shots. I was not only kicking myself for starting the fight with Danny beforehand but the fact that I thought he could hold Kratos off while I climbed a tower.

Kratos was dodging well and I had to keep adjusting my aim to keep him off centered. It was easy to keep him in a corner at least. I had him at the far right side of the facility to the west. He couldn't come forward because of my cannons and he couldn't go backward because of the drop off.

Only problem with Kratos was that if you continued to be repetitious with him he would eventually figure out a way to kill you. On top of figuring how to mix up my strategy, the AA gun was still online. We needed the mako and we needed it fast.

I nudged my comm with my helmet and began yelling at Cody, "What the hell man, why is this gun still online?!"

Cody came back over frantic with sounds of work in the background, "Jean had an idea, we are going to reboot the gun and use it against Kratos."

"That's not what I ordered; you get this gun offline now!"

The gun whined and then died as it stopped firing and came to rest at a horizontal position. Next step was to call Joker. I pulled away one of my cannons to make the call and Kratos was able to slip by. I cursed and hit the comm button.

"Joker, we have the AA guns down. We need a Mako drop."

Joker had a calm voice that showed he was working, "Alright, I will do that on my way to drop off the bomb."

I was about to ask for time but stopped when Kratos began climbing up the tower. He was moving fast thanks to the chains and was not going to be stopped. I almost jumped and to try and smash into him but I remembered what happened when he was falling with Icarus and that wouldn't be to welcomed. I quickly ran threw everything that Megaman could do and came to a conclusion.

I readied my right buster cannon and began charging a shot. I stepped back from the ledge and waited for Kratos to bust up like he always does. I waited for about sixty seconds until one of his blades flew up and landed on the edge of the tower.

I pointed right at it and fired but it didn't budge. Then Kratos finished climbing up the tower nad got onto the tower with me. I quickly ran to the edge to give a comfort zone between me and him but I had to face it. There was no comfort zone near Kratos.

I pulled up my cannon arm but there was no cannon. My suit had degenerated back into regular Scorpion armor. Luckily, Kratos brought up his arms to defend against the blast. This gave me a chance to react and I ran and jumped off the roof.

I immediately regretted my course of action as I fell toward the ground. I took a second to think and that was a second too long. I hit the ground with a thud and my eyes went haywire. I couldn't focus and had to force myself to get up.

I tried to figure out how to walk and was silently thanking Mass Effect's programming that allowed for strength enhancement armor. Without it I wouldn't have been able to get up. After I was up to my feet and had a chance to let my eyes realign I was able to look up.

I saw a small speck in that was getting bigger. There was only one thing it could be, the Normandy. I quickly began to run to the edge of the cliff and pulled up the comm.

"Cody, where are you?"

Cody came over the comm frantic, "I'm on my way. I'm just having trouble seeing."

Ty turned around and saw Kratos was half way down the tower, "What do you mean?"

I heard Cody open up his sniper rifle in the background, "I couldn't see, matrix code filled my vision."

I pulled my assault rifle off my back and began taking pot shots at Kratos as he climbed, "Are you going to be able to shoot him?"

Cody took a deep breath, "Yeah, I think."

I clenched my jaw, "You think?!"

Kratos jumped the last ten feet of the tower and landed in a full on sprint heading right for me. I needed something big to happen and quick. No way I could stand up to Kratos in a toe to toe fight. I tried clenching my fist, grabbing my shoulder and strait focusing but there was no way I could change my armor.

Kratos was getting too close, I felt myself walking backwards in fear. I walked backward all the way to the edge of the facility. There was no more time. Kratos was right up on me and there was no hope in sight.

Kratos ripped a blade off his back and began swinging it. The only thing I could think to do was step backwards. I felt myself slide off the facility and go down the cliff. I looked up as I fell and the last thing I saw was the Normandy flying overhead and Kratos's blade barely missing me.

**So,**** I think I am just going to answer to PMs/Reviews when needed rather than per every ten chapters. So, if you want a question answered, leave it in a review.**


	36. Robot Suits and Dumbasses

**Cody:**

Cody stumbled out of the AA gun building holding his head. He just had an attack on his brain by matrix code and it left him feeling weak. It was like everything possible was trying to keep him out of the fight. Still, Cody pressed (on) and got to the stairs.

He looked at the make shift cover at the bottom of the stairs. The Salarians weren't firing or even interfering. They were just looking out with gaping mouths. Cody followed their line of sight and saw Kratos charging Ty. A surge of adrenaline shot through Cody at the sight. He whipped his Sniper rifle off his back and trained it on Kratos.

Cody would get Kratos in sight and then the matrix code would cover his vision and quickly fade away. Cody began getting enraged at how he couldn't get a bead on Kratos. Cody pulled his eyes away from the scope and saw Ty stepping off the edge of the cliff to dodge Kratos's blade.

Now there was nobody but Cody and Kratos. Cody looked around for something that could help him. Then, Cody looked down and realized the Salarians _still_ weren't firing.

"Shoot damn it!"

The Salarians finally pulled their heads out of their collective asses and opened up on Kratos. Cody then looked up at giant man, where something caught his eye. He looked up and saw the Normandy soaring overhead with its front hatch open. Looking from the Normandy, he saw the Mako tank falling down to the middle of the area, right between Kratos and the Salarians.

Kratos was barely being affected by the gun fire, and it looked like the tank was going to be their best bet to beat him, or at least buy some time. Cody took off, ran down the stairs and vaulted over the man-made cover to meet at the tank.

Cody ran straight towards Kratos and thought that he wouldn't have any trouble making it to the Mako in time. Then Kratos saw him, Cody almost froze in his tracks at the gaze Kratos was shooting him. The last time Cody could recall 'the gaze' was when Kratos met Zeus.

Fear started coursing through Cody. He wanted to stop and run to a distance but that would only screw him over. No, he needed to just keep going and get to the Mako as soon as it landed. Cody gave himself a push and began sprinting full on toward Kratos.

Kratos didn't move a step; instead he pulled the Blades of Chaos off his back and began swinging them at Cody. Cody immediately saw them flying at him and closed his eyes and continued to run.

Cold metal smacked Cody in the head and knocked him backwards. The smack caused Cody to fall down and somersault backwards onto the ground. For a second Cody thought he was dead, but then opened his eyes and saw that the Mako had blocked Kratos' swords.

Cody immediately got up and ran to the door of the Mako and got in. He hadn't had a chance to drive the Mako and didn't really have a driver's license either, but he figured that if Ty could figure it out then so could he.

The driver's seat immediately adjusted to Cody once he was sitting and the controls looked very simple. It was like playing a flying arcade game: just take the wheel, right trigger for guns and left for boosters. Things were already looking up.

Kratos began to sprint at the Mako already winding up his Lion Head Punch. That gave Cody only seconds to get a bead on him and blast him into oblivion. The Mako tank adjusted its cannon until it was locked on to Kratos and then Cody hit the right trigger. The cannon fired and matrix code covered the screen that Cody needed to aim.

Looking back to the main screen, Cody it the peddle and began to drive but that screen was soon covered in matrix code. Cody began to panic; he was now just sitting in a tin can and couldn't drive or shoot it. Pounding the keyboard in anger Cody called for anything to help him.

"C'mon you stupid fucking machine, work! Stop with the code! God, why can't I have something useful? First my damn sniper and now the damn tank!"

Cody heard a ding on the outside and then the tank went barreling through the air into a side wall. The Cody smashed his hands into the controls and saw matrix code start to bleed out from his hands onto the console and fill the entire cab. This caused everything around Cody to shift and change.

The cockpit became cramped and small while the entire back end completely disappeared. Slowly everything refitted itself and came back online. Cody felt something cold on his feet and looked down. There was a flash t-shirt along with a bunch of ice and beer. Either Cody was knocked unconscious by the Mako getting hit or this was a god send.

The consoles and button lit up all around the cab and a small electronic voice came on, "Initializing… Vital Suit systems engaged."

Cody smiled and grabbed the controls, "Lost Planet huh? Well, I guess Japan is about to kick ancient Greece's ass."

Cody took the controls and turned the machine to face Kratos. The guy was cracking his knuckles and looking more pissed than ever. Taking a deep breath, Cody hit the activation button and looked at the diagnostics. He was in a Space VS, which meant he had its bolt pistol and saw if he lost his two main guns.

Kratos pulled out his blades and began to run at Cody, Cody decided to do the same and hit the boosters. The two flew at each other with intense force that a collision would have been dire. However, Kratos managed to dodge to the side and stab his two blades into Cody's left gun.

The machine jerked to the side as Kratos began to pull on his chains and the gun they were attached to. Cody used the VS's left hand and grabbed Kratos's chains to take the pressure of his left main gun and instead put the pressure on Kratos.

Kratos and Cody got into a tug of war quickly and neither was making headway. Switching the other arm on, Cody adjusted the grip to the right hand and activated the left's saw. Cody knew that the most deadly weapon Kratos had was the blades and if he severed their umbilical cord, and then it could only get easier.

The VS's saw cut into the chains with power that Kratos did not understand and were able to break them. Kratos staggered backward as he was set off balance by the sudden lack of connection. Cody knew that it was his chance and hit the left trigger to use the rockets but the VS just sparked back and the VI system began to screech warnings.

"System compromised. Left turret down. Suggest immediate removal."

"Fuck", was all Cody said before hitting the boosters and flying toward Kratos. A still stunned Kratos looked from his weaponless hands to the machine that was flying toward him. He didn't move.

Cody swung the VS saw into Kratos's stomach and successfully cut him in half. Kratos fell into two pieces and matrix code scattered from his body, changing him back into the Krogan they had seen before. Cody was so excited and happy that he began stamping his feet in the VS causing it to jump up and down and spaz out as it tried to walk at the same time.

"Well done, I didn't expect you to defeat him."

The words and voice made Cody stop his stamping and turn the VS to the cliff where the voice had come from. Rising up from behind the ledge was Saren accompanied by two gunships and an unconscious Ty in his left arm.

**Shepard:**

Shepard, Garrus, and Liara entered into a fire fight as soon as they reached the center of the breeding complex. The Geth had been waiting for them and were not about to let them destroy the place without a fight. Now, all three of them were hiding behind cover waiting for the Normandy to show up and save their asses.

Garrus managed to take cover behind come crates near the pillar and flank the enemy on the right side and forcing the enemy to go left into Liara's biotic mine field. Sniper shots and singularities flew everywhere. None of the attackers were safe.

They held the line for several minutes and were still staying strong up until they heard the roar of the Normandy's engines and saw it fly overhead and pick off the rest of the Geth with its cannons. Then, it landed and opened up its launch bay.

Shepard walked up the ramp and around the two soldiers carrying the "bomb". Inside the bay, Shepard noticed Tali sitting at the weapon bench just finishing mods for her shotgun. From her, Shepard noticed that the Mako was gone.

"Hey Tali, where is the Mako?"

Tali looked back at Shepard and stood up from her finished shotgun, "Ty requested it be dropped in their area."

Shepard nodded and pulled up the comm, "Hey Ty, why is the Mako gone?"

There was static at first but then Danny came on, "Yeah, we are having a lot of trouble over here."

"What's happening?"

Danny's voice came in a little frantic, "Oh well, you know. We came to this party and I forgot to bring an appetizer, what do you think genius? We are being swarmed by Geth!"

Shepard turned around and began to walk out of the bay, "Okay, we will be there to help you. Where are the others?"

Danny came in and gun fire could definitely be heard, "Well, Ty is taking a nap over with Saren and Cody is driving a giant robot."

Shepard was starting to get annoyed, "Tell me the truth."

"I am- oh shit, incoming!"

The comm cut off there and Shepard was already moving, "Okay, we need to set this bomb and get over to the Users. They are in trouble."

Ashley and Kaiden looked at each other and then to Shepard, "The bomb isn't going to be ready any time soon."

Shepard was a little creeped out by the unison but brushed it off quickly, "Okay, how much time will it take?"

Kaiden pulled up his omnitool and began to weld something, "Too long for us to get over to the Users."

Shepard clenched his fists and looked back at the others, "Tali are you ready to go?"

Tali pulled her Shotgun, "I could go for some target practice."

"Okay, Liara, you are coming too. Alright, let's go save the Users."

**So, I am going to put my author's notes at the end of my stories because... I feel like it. Now, I am going to write a date down and the next chapter will come out on that date because it seems like my chapters get a better reception when I do so it will come out 2/25/13.**

**I am going to have a two week survey full for missions for next book. It will change every two weeks so remember to vote. This week is Recruitment: Krogan, Convict, Scientist, archangel. The one with the most votes gets to be a mission I really focus on. In other words. Which missions do you want to see the Users do their thing?**

**Remember to review, favorite, follow, and PM if you are enjoying this story, See something that I need to do something better on, or have an idea for my story.**


	37. You Knew?

**Tali:**

Tali pumped her shotgun in anticipation, Saren and an army of Geth could be on the other side when the doors opened. Shepard had his assault rifle out so he could set the gun to Overkill mode. Liara was flaring her biotics and generating something in her left hand. Tali wanted to hit something, mostly Liara, because of the anticipation that was hanging over head.

Shepard spoke calm and collected, just to show nothing to worry about, "Okay, we go in, bail them out, and leave. No being a hero, no trying to push back, and no sacrifices. We do this simply and efficiently. Got it?"

"Got it", Talli and Liara said in unison.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The trio took off forward and ran to a nearby pile of rubble. Tali looked around and saw the entire place was covered in rubble and the Salarians could be anywhere. Tali peaked around the side of their pile and saw a Geth Cruiser immediately lock on to her.

Shepard grabbed Tali by her hood and yanked backwards, pulling her out of the way of the shot. She looked back at Shepard and he motioned for them to stay low and follow him. Shepard led them to a pile of rubble that had an opening in it.

They walked inside and saw Danny and Cody inside looking up, "Hey there", Shepard yelled.

Danny looked back and walked over to Shepard, "You guys got here late. You know that to be fashionable late is over rated, right?"

Shepard patted Danny on the shoulder, "Sorry had to set up a bomb."

Danny sneered, "Cool story bro, needs more saving our asses."

Shepard looked behind Danny and saw the Salarians working on a giant machine, "What is that?"

Cody crossed his arms and looked pleased with himself, "That's my power at work. I turned the Mako into a mech suit."

Tali gawked at it in awe, "So, why didn't you guys just break out of here using it?"

Danny walked over to a wall and pulled a sword/gun thing from behind some rocks, "Because Saren has Ty and the mech is broken."

Shepard facepalmed, "Nothing is ever simple, is it?"

Danny put the sword on his back, "Well, now that you are here. We can go get him."

Tali pulled up her shotgun and walked over to the exit, "I'm coming to."

Danny put his arms out as if to hug Tali, "Well of course you are. You are the key to the whole thing."

Shepard looked at Danny, "How so?"

Danny put his hands up like he was going to do a magic trick, "Sabotage."

Shepard looked at Danny in question, "What?"

Danny walked over to Tali and grabbed her by the wrist, "She can use sabotage on the two cruisers out there. That means the cruisers will either attack each other or over heat or have to wait to fire."

Shepard looked at Danny and his eyebrow twitched, "Uh, okay."

"Great, let's move."

**Ty:**

My eyes felt heavy and pain was surging through my body. I could feel an icy metal hand clamped around my neck that was not letting me go. The smells of gun fire, mixed with engine exhaust made me want to gag. Sound was completely cancelled out by heavy gun fire and the steady hum of an engine.

I struggled and managed to open my eyes and I was looking down. I could barely think and I wanted to go back to sleep. My head began to bob down and I was shutting my eyes but the hand on my neck noticed.

It hefted me into the air and shook me violently like a two year old would punish a bad puppy. Another hand made its way to the front of my neck and took over. I was spun around in the air and saw who was holding me. Adrenaline shot through my veins and I was fully awake.

Saren smiled devilishly, "So, here we are again. I guess you want to know what happened to your friends."

Saren spun me around while still keeping his hand on my throat. He pointed out at the AA gun which was now in a wreck and the Salarians and Users were nowhere in sight. I looked around and expected to see the Mako to pop out and start gunning them down but it was nowhere as well.

"You see how pointless it is? You are just in way over your head Ty. You can't beat me", Saren said with smug satisfaction.

I opened my mouth to say something whitty but Saren just clamped down harder so all that came out was, "Ack."

Saren spun my back around and held his left arm out for me to see, I noticed that the midsection piece of my Spartan armor was welded on to his shoulder, "I finally found out how to keep the armor attached to me. Now, I basically have your power", Saren's mechanical arm busted and became the Brute claw from the third installment, "And more."

Saren clamped the claw around me and began to squeeze but he let my neck go, "Well, congrats on being a copycat."

Saren squeezed harder, "Copycat, ha, once you are dead. I will be the original."

My armor began to crush down and I wasn't able to take a full breath, "That's not how it works."

Saren clamped down hard enough that my right arm was crushed in the claw too, "Who gives a damn, I won't lose this time. I will be victorious. I will win and you will be the loser."

The last sentence parked a fire in me and I began tugging on my left arm to free it. This only caused Saren to clamp down harder but in the process he warped my right arm guard so I was able to yank me arm out. I looked Saren in the eyes and brought my now unarmored fist back to ready a punch.

I swung my fist into Saren's chest and expected too just hurt myself because I hit metal but I didn't feel anything. I felt like I just missed him. I looked down at my arm and saw that there was a rip in Saren's chest where I had hit him and red Matrix code was oozing out over Saren.

Saren's expression went from triumph to terror when he looked own at me arm, "What are you doing!?"

I opened my hand and grabbed the closed thing to it, "Winning the game!"

I began to pull and Saren screamed out in pain. Saren's claw degenerated into his regular arm and he began to drop me. Tightening my grip I pulled even harder and Saren recomposed himself and grabbed me with both hands. He pulled me in as close as possible to the point that my arm was in to my shoulder.

My eyes darted from his wound to my shoulder and I saw a skin of green matrix code form over me and begin to fight with the red. The red matrix code would ooze forward and begin to turn the green and then the green would push the red back and into Saren. Like the matrix code something began to push its way into my head and everything went white.

I knew where I was immediately; it was the place I would go to talk to Drew. Except Drew wasn't here, standing across from me was a determined looking Saren. I clenched my fists and began walking toward him.

Saren put his hand up to show stop, "You don't want to do that."

I stopped and looked at Saren suspiciously, "Why?"

Saren crossed his arms and smiled, "You have begun a data merge. That means only one of us can retain their conscious."

"Aaah", I wanted to have some whitty comeback but I couldn't. What if Saren was telling the truth and what was the truth? What the hell is a merge? Why the hell would we lose consciousness?

"By this point, you're probably asking yourself what a merge is. Well, picture this; you are completely absorbed by the other person, memories, thoughts, knowledge and the like. You cease to exist and only the person that won the merge stands."

I raised an eyebrow at Saren, "And you're telling me this because…?"

Eyes widened and his smile becoming wicked Saren yelled, "Because I want you to know that you will never get back home, never see anyone, and in your place I will go back."

I didn't say anything; I just ran full speed ahead at Saren. The bastard never gave me a reason to stay away from him. He was just trying to demoralize me.

Saren stood where he was and got down into a combat position. He spead his legs shoulder with in a crouch, positioned one arm by his side in a fist so he could do and uppercut, and brought his other hand up to block. He looked like he was trying to be Goku or Jet Li.

I got close to Saren and instead of punching him or going for a kick; I got down low and went for a tackle. I hit Saren in the gut and began to push forward but he just leaned over and grabbed my waist and lifted me up. He then tossed me to the side and I slid away from him.

"You can't beat a Turian in hand to hand combat. You should know this, after playing through the game numerous times", Saren taunted.

I began to stand up and put my hand to my chest and felt the pain that was with it. Then, something caught my attention. I looked down at my body and saw that I wasn't in my armor anymore. I just had my T-shirt and shorts that I had come in with. My eyes went from me to Saren, his armor was now colored with the scorpion armor colors.

Saren began to walk toward me and I froze. There was no way I could beat him. I began to back up and the white area we had been standing in began to shift and Saren's smile dissipated.

"Well, I guess we are going to have to finish this another time."

I was yanked backwards and was being pulled by someone. I looked back and saw Danny holding me and backing up as fast as he could go. From him I saw Shepard firing his assault rifle on overkill at Saren. Saren was just flying off looking pleased with himself.

Danny eventually got behind a pile of rubble and sat me down, "Okay, Shepard call in the Normandy."

I grabbed Danny by the collar, "But the cruisers."

Danny smiled and held up a small disk, "You girlfriend took care of that."

I looked around and saw Tali on the top of the rubble, "What did you do?"

Tali saw me and quickly got down, "I used two sabotages on the cruisers and they destroyed each other."

"Nice, so where's evac then?"

Shepard brought his hand down from his ear looked grim, "We have a problem. The bombs timer won't work. Someone has to stay with it."

I laughed and said, "Well, make the choice. Not a difficult one after all."

Shepard looked at me in confusion, "Make… the… choice? What the hell are you talking about. These are people's lives at stake. And you-", Shepard's eyes widened in realization, "You knew, didn't you. You fucking knew!"

Tali shot me a worried look, "What is he talking about?"

I fully stood up from Danny, "Remember how I said I was a User", Tali nodded her head slowly, "well, I have played through this before, except I was Shepard and made the choice. It wasn't easy the first time but I have done it so many times that I could care less."

Tali slapped me across the face, "How could you say that? If I was one of those, would I be just a choice? You said I am real, well what does that make them? They are just like me."

I rubbed my face where Tali had hit me, "It's not that simple, this choice would always have been here. In the real game, Kaiden is with the bomb and Ashley would be with the Salarians and Shepard would have had to make the choice then."

Tali backed away next to Shepard, "Well, why didn't you tell us? We could have prevented it."

I was really getting fed up, "No, if I would have told you. The AI would have just adjusted the game and made it harder, impossible even. Shepard has to make this choice and make it now!"

We all looked at Shepard who was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. To me, these people were AIs. To Shepard, comrades in arms, the people he stood by. Now, he had to choose between two.

Why did I laugh?

** Well, I am jazzed by the gameplay footage I just watched for the new Mass Effect multiplayer add on, Reckoning. I won't lie. Tomorrow will just be me, no lifing it. But now, here's the newest chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.  
Don't forget to vote on missions for Users 2 in Mass Effect 2. It's on my profile page. IT's will be tallied and locked in next week so hurry.**

**Remember to review, favorite, follow, and PM if you are enjoying this story, See something that I need to do something better on, or have an idea for my story.**


	38. Used

**Shepard:**

Shepard stared in disbelief at Ty. He couldn't comprehend what was just said. He had to choose between two of his crew, two of his family. One of them would sure as hell die in the blast and all Ty could do was laugh and tell Shepard to get on with it.

"Damn it Shepard! This isn't an easy choice but it has to be made! Now make it!"

Shepard looked from Ty to Danny who just screamed at him, "These are people's lives! I can't just make the choice!"

Ty walked over to Shepard and grabbed him by the collar, "If you don't, then I will and I am sure that you won't like my decision."

Shepard grabbed Ty's arm to keep him in place and then connected his fist to Ty's face, Ty stumbled backwards with an imprint of Shepard's fist showing on his cheek, "You have lost the right to say anything!"

Ty stood up straight and walked back up to Shepard, "How? Because I didn't tell you about a choice you would have to make? I never even thought about it until now. This choice literally has become a speed bump that I have gone over so much that it might as well be part of the road. So I am sorry I didn't tell you that you would have to make this choice but coincidentally, this is different than the choice I had to make."

Shepard stomped his right foot in anger, "This is bull shit! It's still the same choice. Two people's lives are on the line and I have to make the choice. I have to have them willingly give up their lives."

Throwing his hands out in defeat Ty just turned around and began walking away, "Fine, I am leaving."

Shepard's teeth were too clenched to say anything but Tali asked the question for him, "What are you doing?"

Ty just walked toward the cave, "Another quote by Kevin Flynn 'removing myself from the equation'."

Danny spun on his heels and walked towards Ty, "I think I am going to go with him."

That left Shepard with Tali and that wasn't any good. Telling someone from a race that barely has enough to sustain a viable that you have to kill one of yours wasn't going to receive good advice. That meant that Shepard was alone, not physically but psychologically. Then something in Shepard's subconscious cracked.

They are Users, Ty made Shepard on a video game, Shepard isn't real himself. Shepard wasn't the main hero or the lost hero anymore; he is Arnold Schwarzenegger in the last action hero. Out of his element and left to try and still be the hero but what if he isn't the hero? Could he break what Ty had in vision? Could he change what was surrounding him?

As if a light had shined down on Shepard, he realized that there was only one way to survive and win. His way, and that meant he needed to make the call, regain control, and do what had to be done. Shepard took a deep breath and stood up, he was going to make the call.

"Ashley, get on the ship. Kaiden, I'm sorry."

"I cannot do tha-", Ashley was cut off and Kaiden answered.

"Sorry sir, I had to knock Ashley out. Knowing her, she would have stayed despite your orders."

Words caught in Shepard's throat as he tried to speak, "Kaiden, I truly am sorry. If there was anything I could do, I would do it. I would even trade places with you."

Kaiden came over in that relaxed tone he managed to possess, "No problem Shepard, at least I am going out with a bang. So, what's the plan after you get off this rock?"

Shepard felt like a hand had his stomach in a grip that would not let up and Tali, who was staring at him with sad eyes wasn't helping, "Go to Illos and stop Saren. It's all we can do right?"

"Heh, yeah we… sorry the ship just took off, now where was I. Oh yeah, we've seen quite a bit in our time in this hell. Funny thing too, we made it this far off blind optimism and some super natural freaks after all. How are the Users anyway?"

Shepard fought the urge to tell Kaiden that they knew about this choice and just kept talking, "Well, Cody made a giant robot. Danny is still being a smart ass, and we just saved Ty from Saren."

There was some chinks and cracks behind Kaiden which lead Shepard to believe he was priming the bomb, "So, the virgin got himself caught, figures. Hey Shepard, I am going to shut off here in a minute but do me a favor, tell Tali that the scotch she owes me now is owed to you."

"Kaiden", the comm began beeping and showing that nobody was on the other line."

Shepard grabbed his knees and felt a wave of pain shoot through him. He knew that he would always wonder if he had made the right decision here. He knew it.

**Danny:**

Danny sat next to Ty in the cave as they both waited for the Normandy to arrive, "So, how did you know that we set up shop in the rubble?"

Ty looked over at Danny, "I was just headed out of sight of Shepard. Figured the cave was good as any."

"So, you guys ready to party or do we have to leave the paradise without you?"

Danny looked over to Cody who was climbing into the VS suit. That could only mean that the Normandy had arrived and it was time to get the hell out of dodge. Pointing at the exit Danny signaled to Ty that they had to leave while Cody opened up the ceiling. They quickly exited out through the cave entrance with the Salarians and headed to the Normandy, which had parked itself for a quick take off.

Everyone loaded into the ship and it took off, no words exchanged, no questions, and no answers. They had left Kaiden, that's all that was needed. Danny did the one thing that made sense. He went straight to the Medbay and Chakwas.

Danny entered in and immediately dodged a medical probe device that was thrown. A quick glance at where it had come from and Danny saw Ty sitting on a medical table and Cody over by Chakwas and they both looked pretty pissed.

"Sooooo, what'd I miss?"

Cody looked over at Ty, "You want to tell him?"

Ty just pointed over at Chakwas and she leaned back in her chair and began explaining, "Well, there is a bit of a problem. Ty started a merger and lost."

Danny just shrugged, "Well, you win some, you lose some. I'm more interested in Garrus seeing the giant robot where the Mako is."

Chakwas pincher the bridge of her nose, "It's not a simple matter, the merger. It's the fact that Ty could be fully enveloped into Saren and allow Saren access to the real world."

Danny pointed back at the door, "So, we stop him. Now let's go see what Garrus does."

Ty smacked his hand on the table, "Danny, this isn't a matter of just stop him. Saren is becoming part of me. If he dies, gets hurt or I don't continue the merger then he could… I could be… this isn't a game anymore. This is a matter of life and death. If Saren isn't stopped as soon as possible then he not only wins but he WINS. Game over, no getting out, no being trapped in game, we will literally evolve into binary code and disperse into data."

Danny waved off the information like warding off some bees, "We can worry about that when we get to the Citadel. Right now, let's go check the Mako and Garrus."

Chakwas got out of her chair and snapped her fingers, "I already fixed the Mako. It's the actual Mako again. Now can we please get on with it? Saren has become a rouge program, he has gone from a regular zip file into something more. I believe that when his memory was unlocked and he began using the World Database he may have caught an infectious program that is changing not only him but the game all together."

There was an awkward silence and then Cody spoke up, "You mean that Saren caught a virus?"

Chakwas snapped again, "Bingo, now, in order to restore the game to default Saren, Ty will have to win the merger."

Danny looked over at Ty, "How will he do that?"

Chakwas answered for Ty, "Ty will need to restart the merger, and that means you will have to get to Saren before Shepard does and restart the merger."

Ty looked up at all of them, "That means we need an excuse to stay on the Citadel. I am not telling Shepard anything."

Danny just shrugged, "Well, after that fight you two had just say good bye and good riddance or something. Shouldn't be too hard."

Cody sat up, "So, just use vagueness? Simple enough."

Ty nodded, "Okay, until we get to the Citadel, let's just chill and wait."

Danny stepped forward and put his hand into the middle, "Okay guys, bring it in."

Ty and Cody just looked at Danny, "No."

Both of them got up and left and Danny sat alone in the medbay with Chakwas waiting him for him to get on with it. Danny just sighed and put his other hand in and lifted them both up yelling, "Users!"

Chakwas just shook her head, "Dumbass."

** Sorry this is out later in the day than usual. Same old bull, lack of reviews=lack of motivation=lack of getting shit done. So, please give me some feedback, it drives me and its one of the funnest things about writing this is when you guys give me an idea or suggestion that takes over and changes the story.**

** On the subject of the poll, The Convict is winning and there can be ties so go in and vote. Takes two seconds and you get your two cents in for Users 2. The vote will last till midnight 3/4/2013. The new vote goes up 3/5/32013.  
**

** So, see you guys next week. Checkout my other series Losing Humanity and tell me what you think of it. Uuuumm, until next time, ROAD HOUSE!**


	39. Thoughts and Ideas

**Danny:**

Danny sat back in the chair at the dining hall. In agreeing to leave the ship after they reached the Citadel, Danny just might have signed away his time on the Normandy along with alienating the people on it. That meant he better wrap things up and wrap them up good. Out of everyone on the ship, the only one that Danny needed to patch things up with Shepard.

Not only for the alcohol poisoning, taking his seat, and just over all contradicting Shepard but the fact that Ty won't be trying to make good with anyone. Hell, he was just going to stay in the medbay until they reached the Citadel and leave without giving anyone any notice. That meant that Danny would have to solve it… or just say fuck it and get on with his _life_ inside the game.

The thought of life made Danny wonder, would he actually be able to live life inside the game or would everything just stop and Chakwas would write in some way that makes Shepard take them back? If they would just live on through the game then what's the point of risking their lives, but if they need to fight their way through it then it's completely understandable.

That just brought another question to the table, are the AIs that surround him sentient or are they just doing what they program? This question could easily answer which of the first questions was the true one. Danny sat and contemplated the question while he waited for a chance to talk to Shepard.

The sitting caused his eyes to wander, and they fell upon Kaiden's terminal. Then the questions began to play even fast in his head. Are they sentient or are they dumb? Are they sentient? Are they people? Are they alive? Are they trapped?

Danny needed to get the whole deal of AIs off his mind and opened up his omnitool to play a game. Any game at all, he was just tired of thinking. Danny flipped through his programs and found several tech abilities that he could use against the Geth and activated them. Three more buttons appeared on Danny's omnitool. Danny's hand floated over to the buttons but then a game caught his eye, Tetris.

Danny opened up Tetris and just played just thinking to himself, at least this game won't go crazy and pull me in.

**Cody:**

Cody walked around the Mako and wondered how he did it. Danny and Ty had to think about what they wanted their weapon's and armor to turn into but he didn't. He just yelled and smacked the console. There wasn't a control factor, it was just random. Then again, they all had a limiter on their power. Danny had his linked to stamina, Ty had a time limit, maybe his was how random it was.

The more Cody thought about it, the more it made sense to him. That also meant that he shouldn't try it in a small area. It would be a terrible action to make the death star in the Normandy. Then again, Soverign probably couldn't beat the death star. Cody closed his eyes and shook his head, chances of getting that would be outweighed by getting a mongoose.

Cody made his was out into the middle of the bay so he could get a good look at the Mako. He wondered if it would be any vehical or would it have to be the Mako or Firewalker. Cody just shrugged and began to leave when Garrus called out to him.

"Hey, Cody, could you come over here?"

Cody stepped up to Garrucs, "Whatcha need?"

Garrus pointed behind him at the Mako diagnostics console, "I've been searching the Mako but I can't seem to find the giant robot button anywhere."

Cody crossed his arms and looked at Garrus inquisitively, "How would you know about that?"

Garrus brought his hand up and pointed at his head, "Your's and Shepard's helmet cams. I watched what happened after I left and was surprised to see what you did."

Cody rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from Garrus, "Yeah, well, it was nothing."

"It was enough to mess with the Mako's suspension and put its targeting off", Garrrus said sounding irritated.

Cody but his hands up and gave a mock surrender while rolling his eyes, "Okay, I won't save everyone's asses ever again."

Garrus gave a mock sneer, "Much appreciated, that will really save me a lot of time."

Cody stuttered a little bit, "You can't be serious."

"Of course I'm not serious; you did what you had to do. I'm just wondering if you knew what happed to my stash", Garrus inquired.

Cody thought for a moment, "You mean the ice and beer?"

Garrus nodded, "Yes that, can't seem to find it in any of the cargo lockers."

Cody walked over to the door and climbed into the Mako, "When I transformed it, I found that stuff in the cockpit. Here it is."

Cody grabbed the beer and clothes and brought them to Garrus, "Thanks, never thought they would have moved into there."

Cody handed Garrus the drinks and then held up the shirt, "And I never thought I would meet a Turian that liked the Flash."

Garrus popped that tab on one of the cans, "That's actually your friend, Ty's. He needed to store it somewhere and I said he could keep it there. Mind running those to him?"

Cody took a deep breath, "Sure."

**Tali:**

Tali began wringing her hands together trying to calm herself but she just felt the goose bumps under her suit spread. She wasn't cold but nervous. She began to asked herself, why did she like Ty? Was there anything between them?

Tali felt like she had just thrusted herself into a relationship after talking to him just a couple of times. Then again, Ashley did that with Shepard and they seemed happy or at least did. She remembered seeing Shepard go after Ashley as they both went up the elevator after the mission but Ashley looked distressed and like she was about to lose it.

Tali didn't blame her, if she had been the one whose life had hung in the balance, she would be asking if she was really worth more than the other person. Tali shook her head and looked at the console in front of her. The average output of the FTL drive had dropped 14% in the time that the ship had been flying. Only a minor error but it could grow quickly.

Feeling her finger move on auto pilot, Tali had to up the draw and that leveled out back to what it should be. Nodding at her work, Tali caught a glimpse of her hand and raised it up to look at. She was wearing the suit that Ty had gotten her on Noveria. It still had the shine to it but it was also deteriorated in parts where the Thorian Creeper had threw up on it.

It was still good armor and better than her old Onyx suit but it just seemed wrong. It was like a lie that was covered up by a red rose. Beautiful but it would always have an evil aura radiating from it.

Looked at her clock and sat that she had only been working three hours of her five hour shift. She wanted to talk to Ty and get this figured out or at least close the bridge between them. The more she thought about how he was willing to throw away a life so easily, even laugh at the chance made her sick in the stomach.

Tali moved from the output to the venting system, no obstructions (thank the ancestors), no faulty shutters, and no life signs. That meant she was just to sit bored for the next four hours simply monitoring the output. Activating another scrub program, she was able to take a break and open up her omnitool.

She began scanning through her videos and games trying to find something to do and one thing caught her eye. The Fleet and the Flotilla, it was a good movie and had something that would comfort her right now. Tali made the screen palm sized and shut off her outside speakers and listened to the movie as the scrub program ran.

Something about the movie always comforted her and helped her just numb away any worries, they just became dust in the solar wind.

**Shepard:**

Ashley woke up right after takeoff and the first thing she did was take off. She didn't want to be near the crew, Shepard, or anybody. The fact that he picked her over Kaiden upset her to no end. To be honest, Shepard didn't want to be around anyone either.

He had to choose between two people and decide who deserved to die. The worst part however was that he could have prevented losing anyone if Ty would have just told him. Shepard felt his hands clench in anger, he had developed some trust for Ty, some sort of bond but Ty was hiding things from him.

Shepard walked around his room just thinking to himself about it all. Ty told him about what was going to happen on Noveria and it ended up working out but he immediately refused to tell him anything about Feros and Virmire. It was like some force was pushing him and making demands.

Before, Ty had said something about 'the game AI' but what the hell was that? Shepard just brushed these statements off before but now he realized that something was messing with his life and forcing him down a path. Sure the path had many forks and was very wide but Ty knew what was going to happen.

Shepard stopped near his bed and sat down, a weight was falling on his shoulders and getting heavier with each moment. Something or someone was manipulating him and it was just pissing him off. It wasn't Ty, the idiot wasn't smart enough to manipulate an ant, but someone that Ty knew.

Shepard was going to find out, that was for sure.

**I know it's a short chapter but I have exactally zero drive to write at all so yeah. On the plus side, the next couple chapters are going to have a lot of Ty in them (he is the main character after all) and I felt there was a need to show you how everyone else was.**

**Alright, now is a new week for voting. On my profile page the vote will consist of Recruit Assassin, Justicar, Tali, and Project Overlord**

So, see you guys next week. Checkout my other series Losing Humanity and tell me what you think of it. Don't forget to review, comment, favorite, alert or PM if you have anything to say. Until next time, ROAD HOUSE!


	40. Notice

**Hello my follower, however many there are anyway. Sorry but there is not going to be a chapter this week and for a while. I am going to take a break from Users due to an empty bucket of inspiration. I will probably be back in a few and shotgun chapters out on a three day basis but until then it's finally happened. I am just out.**

**Sorry if this is a big shocker to you or this makes you angry just send me a PM or write a review or just sit down and contemplate how I am taking a reasonably extended holiday. That's not saying I won't come back just I need some time to plan and make good with the ending and such.**

**So, I plan to be back 4/01/13, April fools… not really, I am taking a break till then.**

**This notice will be down taken down once the story is complete.**


	41. Hostile Takeover

**Ty:**

I sat on the stairs letting my mind wander. A merger, what the hell would it do? Would I lose my memories first and begin disappearing? Would Saren get control first and then I would just wither away?

I felt my fist clenching as my anger and rage began to boil, "Damn it!" I slammed my hand into the metal wall and immediately regretted it. Pain shot down my arm and up to my head as my fist connected with the wall.

I pulled my hand away from the wall and held it close to me trying to rub the pain away when the intercom came on, "Attention, all ground crew and Users. Please report to the comm room for debriefing."

I let a small laugh of disbelief; we were already being singled out of the crew. Shepard was far more pissed than he ever had been before. It seemed like a good excuse to skip the meeting but if I didn't show up I would go from being put in a grave to just being spaced when the crew finally killed me.

I got up and headed into the comm and made sure to keep my face blank. The crew couldn't know that more bad stuff was happening than what they knew. They wouldn't be able to comprehend it nor logically take it into consideration.

I walked up the steps and entered the comm room, Shepard was the only one there and he looked up at me, shot a scowl and then looked down to the report in hand. It was hard but I Managed to hold my stare even though I wanted to bust out laughing at Shepard's scowl. Not that he had no right to be angry at me but it was how he went about it that was funny.

"So, you ready to answer to the crew?"

I looked up at Shepard and switched back into serious mode, "That I saved more people from dying by withholding information? Yes, yes I am."

Shepard rolled his eyes and took a seat. It took only a few seconds after that but everyone began showing up one at a time. There was a cloud over everyone's head that just dropped a ten pound weight on my shoulder. It began to get harder to hold my blank face and keep a upright sitting position as each one walked in.

It dwindled down to the last two and that's when it really hit me. Tali walked in first and didn't even look in my direction. Then, Ashley walked in and I could see the mental stress and pain I had caused. She seemed to have aged ten years in just the short time we had been on the ship. Then, when she looked at me I just let my shoulders drop and finally I cracked.

I didn't realize how badly I had hurt the crew and more importantly Ashley. When it was a game, Ashley shrugs off Kaiden with a little bit of regret but now she really feels like it should have been her. I grabbed the side of my heading a way that my palms covered my ears without looking like I was trying to tune everyone out.

I just sat for a second but I heard something in my head, it was a two note rhythm that scared me worse than anything else. I took my hands off my ears and sat up again but I couldn't recapture my lost posture. _I must have looked pathetic._

Shepard took a deep breath and stood from his chair, "Alright, I have written the report and sent it off to command. I would have let you all make adjustments to it where necessary but I needed to inform the council before we arrived at the Citadel. Now let's cut the bull and get strait to the point, Ty, why have you been withholding information from us."

All eyes went directly to me and I saw Garrus lean forward as to pounce if I made a run for it, "I told Shepard this before but the rest of you probably haven't heard this. There is a force that controls this world, an AI to be exact. It is able to manipulate the game and make it harder or easier depending on the situation and how I approach it. Liara and", his name caught in my throat for a second, "Wrex were with me when I had to cut through a small military force to get to you on Noveria. That was because I told Shepard what would happen."

Garrus chimed in as I paused, "Noveria has been one of our better operations. We could have taken on a difficulty lift if you would have warned us. We are not useless and all of us know our way around a battle field."

I looked around the room at everyone and saw that the only one who wasn't paying attention or at least pretending not to was Tali, "You guys may have but I couldn't. I was hit by a rocket and had a section of armor torn off that Saren is now using. On top of that, I almost died on Feros on a regular fight."

"As far as I can tell, you were just looking after yourself and trying to keep from getting hurt. You never once thought about how the squad could handle the situation or how we could help you", Shepard called out.

I just sneered, "Of course, no proof that it would hurt you or you couldn't handle it so you obviously want to try but you know what? What would it be like if I did and you couldn't handle it? The reason you can say that is because I never took the chance. By not taking a chance, I kept you all away from getting hurt or worse."

Shepard threw his hands up and began walking around the room, "The usual coward excuse. You are just a coward now and you will always be."

I got up and got in Shepard's face when he was in front of me, "You wanna call me out? Well, here I am."

Shepard kept a hard face and stared straight into my eyes, "Bring it, coward."

My fist clenched to the point that I felt my knuckles turn white, "You sure you can keep up with my Shepard? You have never seen how much damage I can do."

Shepard brought a fist up and into my stomach. It hurt but all I did was let out my breath. Shepard had just thrown his hat into a ring that can get him killed. Pushed Shepard away and then gave a shot right to his stomach and that's when I blanked out.

**Shepard:**

Shepard gasped at the air and grabbed Ty's shoulders. Slowly, Shepard's eyes went down and saw that Ty's hand had punctured his sternum but instead of blood, there was matrix code. Shepard began to push him away but Ty pulled him back in with whatever he had a hold of.

"Poor, poor Shepard. You have lost control and you want it back."

A chill went down Shepard's back as the Ty spoke, "Ty?"

Ty moved his hand around in the wound, "Hehe, you only wish. He would have held back but me, I am willing to fully use his power."

The tone and slyness now in Ty's voice was familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it through the pain, "Who are you?"

"Is it really that hard to know?"

Shepard looked up from the wound into Ty's eyes and say the blue glow and pattern now in them, "Saren?"

Ty/Saren pushed Shepard back and let his hand come out of Shepard's sternum, "That's right Shepard", Ty/Saren began walking around Shepard, "Ty never told you but he started a merger. Let me guess your reaction, 'oh no, how did he do that?' Well, you see he hit me with his bare fist it caused both our program files to begin merging and when that happens only one can stay. The other must disappear… forever."

Shepard stood up and pointed at Ty/Saren, "Team, back me up!"

Ty/Saren looked around sarcastically, "Oh no, don't gang up on me. That is no way I can take you all on at once. Oh wait, your crew is a little incapacitated at the moment. I hope that won't put a damper on your quick action."

Shepard got up and looked around, everyone was still. They were like in a paralyzed state, even the other Users weren't moving. Alone, Shepard was all alone. His memory went back to Elysium and how he stood alone against the Batarians.

Shepard glared at Ty/Saren, "I have stood alone against forces worse then you."

Ty/Saren let out a laugh, "No, you haven't. You were born but a few weeks ago Shepard. You don't have a mother or a father. You are just a simple program that was selected to have a special past. Without a User controlling you, you can do nothing."

Shepard threw three quick punches to Ty/Saren starting in his stomach and working his way up to Ty/Saren's face. It caused him to stagger backwards but he immediately stood back up and regained his posture.

"I knew you would do that Shepard, you are programed to be a fighter. Till the bitter end", Ty/Saren said as he raised his hand to finish Shepard off.

Shepard brought his arms up and readied to dodge any shot that Ty/Saren could give, "Bring it, you sack of shit."

Ty/Saren gave a smile that showed utter insanity and anticipation that he had but it quickly melted into fear. Ty/Saren began looking around in panic, "Who is tha- You!? I killed you, you can't be alive still. I killed you. I killed you!"

An electric shock surged out through Ty and Shepard covered his eyes as a bright light shot out of Ty. There was a scream followed by a thump and when Shepard lowered his arm everyone was moving and Ty was lying on the ground smoking.

Shepard stayed still just looking around trying to comprehend what happened until Danny spoke, "What just happened?"

Anger was the first thing Shepard felt and he looked over at Danny, "I want you and the other Users off my ship the second we enter port."

**He I'm back after a short hiatus… and a computer crash… and a motherboard malfunction. So I had to rewrite this chapter like three times. Now this means I am really low on motivation and I desperately need your feedback to get my motivation back. Please just take a second and review or PM me. It helps me to know the opinions of the people reading my story so please just let me know.**

** On a side note, the v2 vote is still going.**


	42. Attention, Now Leaving the Normandy

**Danny:**

Danny let out his breath like he had been holding it for ten minute letting himself fall to the floor as any strength he had left him. He blinked rapidly and brought his hands up to rub his eyes. Pain, like an ice-cream headache, was shooting through his skull. He felt like all his senses had been stopped as he just noticed the smell of smoke and Shepard standing over Ty looking confused.

"What just happened?"

Shepard turned to Danny and pointed a finger at him, "I want you and the other Users off my ship as soon as we enter port."

Danny got up and from the floor and spoke, "What the hell happened?"

Shepard looked down at Ty then back at Danny, "Another damn reason why I want you off my ship."

After that Shepard turned and left the comm room followed by Tali and Ashley. That only left Garrus and Liara in the room with Danny, Cody and a smoking body formerly known as Ty. Cody walked over to Ty and kneeled down to begin checking him out. Danny quickly walked over and joined him, "Is he alive?"

Cody put two fingers on the lower left of Ty's neck and checked for a pulse, "Yeah, he is but why is he smoking?"

Danny looked down at Ty and saw a thin layer of steam coming off him as he lied unconscious, it only took him a moment of contemplation before he knew why, "Shepard has laser vision."

Cody just scoffed, "That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. How the hell would Shepard do that?"

Danny shrugged, "Same way Saren made his arm into a Brute claw. User magic."

Cody facepalmed, "that is so fucking stupid."

"It would also explain why we all got an ice-cream headache", Danny exclaimed smacking his fist into his palm.

Cody shook his head and grabbed Ty's left arm, "Well, we better get over by the airlock."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because Shepard said he wanted us 'off the ship as soon as we reach port'", Cody said grabbing Ty's other arm.

Danny waved Cody off, "Nonsense, we are the heroes. It's not like Shepard would truly want us off the ship."

Cody moved his hand in a circle, "Because?"

"We are awesome."

"Just grab Ty's legs."

Danny grabbed Ty's legs and the two of them made their way to the door and Garrus hit the button. Danny and Cody just gave him a nod of thanks but Garrus just waved them off, drawing his eyes away from them.

Moving headlong, Danny and Cody hurried to the front of the ship and waited by the airlock. They didn't know what to do so they placed Ty by the door and sat around waiting for Joker to pull into the Citadel. Danny let his eyes wander to the controls and he let himself give a laugh when he blasted the reading file out of the air.

"Attention, we are about to dock with the Citadel soon. All passengers gather your belongings that you will be taking with you as you exit the flight. We know the military assigned you here but we here in the cabin would like to thank you for flying Air Normandy", Joker said with sarcasm in his tone.

Cody looked over at Danny, "Where are we going to go once we are on the Citadel?"

Danny didn't even need to think about it, "I say we go to-"

Cody cut him off quick, "If you say we should go to The Flux I am going to get a giant robot and smash you into next game."

"Ha, I was going to say Chora's Den", Danny quickly retorted.

Cody stood up, "Fuck you."

Danny just shook his head and stood up himself. He grabbed Ty off the ground and tossed him over his shoulder, "You know, I sure am getting tired of Ty sleeping on the job. There's been Feros, Virmire, and now on the Normandy. The fuck is wrong with this guy?"

Some of Cody's hostility shrank away and he just crossed his arms, "I don't know, maybe we should get a pass out jar for him."

Danny gave a forced laugh to Cody's comment, "Yeah, every time his ass is on the ground he has to pay a dollar."

Danny could tell that Cody knew he just forced the laugh and they both just kept quiet until the ship was effectively docked and they were allowed to leave. Cody walked over to the elevator and Danny followed him to C-sec academy where they separated. Cody went to the elevators while Danny grabbed a hovercar. No use traveling if it ain't in style.

**Cody:**

Cody wanted to punch a wall or throw the hanar preacher into the water. It was like the entire universe had decided that he was to be its punch line in the grand scheme of 'fuck you' and it was in no way enjoyable. Never once had he complained to anyone, waid he couldn't do something, or given up on a friend but for once he wished he could complain.

Ty had somehow managed to fuck him over, getting him trapped in the game, the worst position in the game, and kicked off the Normandy. It wasn't like his life was the best thing ever either, he needed a damn break from it all and there was only one way to do it.

Cody sat on a bench in the Presidium and just watched the fake sky. He wasn't going to do anything until the Geth arrived and when it happened… Cody will come out swinging.

**Ty:**

I looked around frantically, something had just happened and I had no idea what it was. I remember letting go but something replaced me. It took a second but my sight rushed back to me and I saw it. I was back in my apartment, on the couch, in the living room, with the xbox and TV.

"Hello Ty."

I froze for a second and moved my head over slowly. Sitting next to me, in her jean and a low cut t-shirt was my former girlfriend, "Hello Layla."

She bit her lower lip with a smile on like she was excited to see me but trying to hide it, "So, do you know where you are?"

I clenched my hand on the couch cushion, "My living room."

"No", she stood up and began walking around the room, gesturing at everything, "this is the deepest depth of your mind. Before this, there was the white room with your friend dubbed 'Drew'. Before that there was Liara's mind meld. Each happening brought you a little closer to here."

I sat forward and began rubbing my temples, "What is this? Just going deeper in my mind again?"

She threw her head back causing her brunette hair to fall off her shoulders,"Hahahaha, no Ty. This is what digital evolution is doing to you. It's bringing you to a higher state of mind."

The look on my face was pure confusion, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ty, how long was I gone?"

I thought back to the first morning I woke up and found the note, "Three days?"

"That how long it took for me to ascend."

I stood up from the couch and walked back into the kitchen where she was sitting on the counter, "Ascend to where? Back to Venus where there are other blood suckers like you."

Layla laid back on the counter and let her hair fall off the edge, "C'mon Ty, ascend. It's called digital evolution. It happens when an organic enters the digital realm, slowly your mind begins to shed off it's weakness and becomes pure consciousness."

I shook my head and opened up the fridge, "That's fucking dumb. Why would I want to become pure consciousness? You've seen Darker than Black. The shit doesn't work out."

Peaking in the fridge, I grabbed a beer out and when I sat up Layla was on the other side of the door, "What if it did?"

**If you can't tell, I was listening to Eric Clapton while writing this chapter.**

**ROAD HOUSE!**


	43. Escape from the Citadel

**Shepard:**

Shepard punched the table, "This is insane, how the hell do they take me off this case? How the hell do they just brush off a threat this big? How do they-"

A hand fell on Shepard shoulder as he was cut off by Tali, "We get it Shepard, you're pissed. So are we but there is no use taking it out on the table."

Anderson sat back in his chair and held his hand in a way that offered help, "Look Shepard, there is a way that you can get out of here. Ambassador Udina put the hold on your ship. That means he can call it off. Likewise, my rank can get me to the release controls and I can get you out of here."

"So, which one are you going to do", Shepard asked with a worried tone.

"I can do either, but while sending a message from Udina's terminal is safer, the control is faster. Which do you think I should do?"

Shepard bit his lip, "What's your opinion Tali? Liara?"

Liara spoke first, "Safety should never be sacrificed for speed. If Anderson is at risk at all of injury then he should go to Udina's office."

Tali cut in right as Liara finished, "We don't have time to sit around and wait for a document to be notarized and carried out. The faster we get to Saren, the less chance there will be of him seriously damaging the Citadel. If Anderson can get the job done, then he should do it the fast way."

Shepard ran a hand through his hair and made the call, "Go to Udina's office and send the message."

Anderson stood up and nodded, "Will do, you better get to your ship and be ready."

Shepard stood as well, "Alright, and if you see that slimy cock sucker Udina, make sure to give him a good blow to the head."

Anderson and Shepard gave a bro clasp, "I'll make sure to sign it from humanities finest."

Shepard gave a nod and then turned to leave, "Let's move!"

The three took off as fast as they could back to the Normandy and threw Joker into a panic as they entered, "What the shit? What's going on?"

Shepard pointed toward the back of the ship, "Liara, Tali, tell the crew to be ready at any moment."

Tali took two steps before turning around, "Wait, why don't you announce it over the comm.?"

"Attention crew, we will be making an immediate jump at any moment. Be prepared for any moment."

"Thank you Joker", Shepard said as Tali walked away smugly.

Joker began setting his consoles for travel, "So, how did you clear it with the council?"

"Let's just say that the choice caught Udina by surprise", Shepard said with a smirk.

Joker finished setting his console and turned back around to Shepard, "So we are completely defying the council and Udina is the one being screwed over to do it, got it. So, when are we going to get the-", Joker was cut off by a bing from the message console.

Shepard grabbed Joker's chair and pointed at the icon, "That's the signal, let's get moving!"

Joker spun around and moved quickly detaching the gear that held the ship in place and reversing into the vacume of space. Once the ship had cleared the plasma barrier, Joker did a one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn and rocketed off. They had just cleared the arms of the Citadel when the Destiny Ascension began moving in on them.

Joker pointed over at the Navigation chair, "Shepard, the navigator was left on the Citadel. Can you plot a course around the Destiny Ascension?"

Gritting his teeth, Shepard jumped in the navigation seat and tried quickly to take in the controls. After that he figured the speed and direction of the Ascension, Shepard plotted a course that clipped right under the Ascension's left wing. That left it all up to Joker.

"Nice course Shepard, my grandmother always said that wings were meant to be protective."

Shepard clenched his fist and slammed it on the wall to his right, "You wanted a course right? This is the only one that would allow us to successfully bypass the ships turrets."

"Alright, switching to manual control", Joker then turned on the coom, "Attention crew, secure all belongings. We are going to pull a McFlander maneuver; this will cause extreme G-forces. Engineering, watch the temperature levels. Alert me when we need to vent."

Shepard grabbed his seat and belted in, "Alright Joker, if you kill me, I will beat you so much in heaven it might as well be hell."

"Just remember, it will be your fault that we died. You set the course."

Shepard gripped the seat tighter and gritted his teeth, "I don't make mistakes, I'm a Spectre."

Joker gunned the engines and flew down Shepard's flight path, "Ha, tell me when that phrase can e taken literally. I will bust my ass to become the second human Spectre."

Shepard looked out the window and saw the Ascension coming in fast, "Yeah, you actually have to be able to kick ass without breaking your foot in the process to become a Spectre."

The ship pitched and began to curve along the wing slowly. Shepard watched as the bridge came closer and closer to the wing but managed to stop just inches away from even grazing the ship. Joker had managed to perfectly travel along Shepard's flight path without veering out too far.

Joker switched it to auto pilot after passing the wing and set the destination for the widow system mass relay, "I may not be able to kick ass but I can keep it within the lines."

Shepard just stood up and gave the seat a pat, "That was amazing, I am going to head down to my room and check how much trouble we are in."

Joker just chuckled and said, "You know, if all else fails you chance use the 'I'm a spectre, I don't make mistakes' talk."

Shepard just pointed at Joker, "Don't make me pat you on the back."

**Tali:**

Tali put her arms up and shifted from right to left popping her back in the process, "Break time."

She immediately turned around and gave a wave to Engineer Adams and then pointed for the door. He looked to the door and then gave Tali a thumbs up seeing that she was leaving. She then turned on her heels and took off through the door into the cargo bay.

The tone of the cargo bay was drastically different from the engineering bay. Everyone was moping and there was an aura that was radiating from Wrex's crates. Garrus just sat hunched over his console not even moving his eyes from the holographic display. Ashley on the other hand was completely antsy and ready to move at any moment.

Tali had never truly even talked to Ashley, nor did she really care about her until Virmire. Then again, Ty single handedly made Shepard choose between her and another human being. Tali couldn't imagine picking between two people to get something to eat. To hold the power over life and death, that was a power nobody wants.

Tali decided that maybe just to say something to her would give her some comfort and Tali made her way over to Ashley, "Hey Ashley, how a-"

Ashley turned her head and cut Tali off before she could finish, "-about you and me go up to the comm. Room and talk for a little bit? Good idea Tali", Ashely grabbed Tali's hand and pulled her over to the elevator quickly.

Tali followed Ashley blindly but once they were in the elevator she gave a tug to pull her hand back but Ashley had a firm grip on her. Her eyes moved from the wrist to Ashley's jaw which was grinding on, her eyes were blinking very frequently, she was swallowing almost every couple seconds, and she just kept on fidgeting.

Letting all possible outcomes run through her mind, Tali decided the best course of action was to follow Ashley and see what was up. She just came to this conclusion right as the elevator opened and Ashley took off pulling her along like someone pulls a disobedient dog. They had just got to the comm room when Ashley broke away and began talking like a mad woman.

"I just don't know what to think, Shepard chose me over a higher ranking officer. Along with that we have been establishing sexual relations and Shepard may have picked me because we have confessed feelings for each other. I could be court marshaled and thrown away from a very long time. Shepard could be court marshaled and thrown away for a very long time. I have no idea what to do, should I turn myself in, keep quiet, or turn Shepard in? Tali, I really need some help and you are the only person I feel I can trust with this information. Can you give me any advice whatsoever?"

Tali was taken aback by What Ashley was asking and thought about what she was going to say for two good, long, awkward minutes before finding all the right words, "Ashley, there are many things that could happen from this point. I don't think I am the right person to-"

"I know", Ashley cut her off again, "I'm just so frustrated. I have no idea how to feel and when I let myself think it through all I feel is relieved I wasn't the one who stayed. Am I just a terrible person?"

Tali walked over and took a seat while let Ashley pace back and forth, "Well, I'm sure you are just-"

Ashley just cut Tali off once again causing Tali to begin twiddling her fingers, "I know exactly what you are going to say and you're right. I am freaking out more because Shepard loves me more than his friend, someone who he has been working with for weeks before I came in. I just feel like, like-"

This time it was Tali who cut off Ashley, "You feel like you may have subliminally forced Shepard to choose you?"

Ashley's shoulders slumped and she fell into a chair across from Tali, "Yes, I don't know what to think. What would you do?"

Tali thought and related it to the one thing she did know, "Look, Ashley, sometimes in the flotilla we get attacked by pirates and have to choose what ships we evacuate and others that we save. Now, the ones we abandon still have use as we take out what parts we could and put them into the ones we saved. You get what I am saying?"

Ashley thought for a moment and let the words sink in, "You're saying that I need to accept that I was the one saved but remember that Kaiden was there and he is one of the reasons we made it this far?"

To be honest, Tali had no idea how Ashley pulled that out of what she said but it fit, "Poetic Ashley, just poetic."

Ashley stood up with a renewed confidence, "Thanks Tali, I think I need to go talk with Shepard, but before I do. I know Ty was the reason that I was where I was at and he could have done something to stop it, but after what he said and about how he thought he was protecting us. Do you think he can be forgiven?"

Tali knew her exact answer to that question and she looked right into Ashley's eyes as she gave her answer, "If he was really trying to protect us and was being true to his word, then he would be here right now. Not on the Citadel like the Bosh'tet he is."

**Well, that's it for the one year anniversary chapter. Oh, that's right, happy Users day. Well, day after Users day. It was actually today that I woke up and saw what I had wrote and posted on though so I am a little lenient on my celebrating. So here is a toast to all my friends old and new, all my readers from day one to today, and everyone who was just passing by to throw an idea into the hat. I drink to you!**

** Thanks for one good year with 43 chapters 20 ones that sat WTF, 13 that I think sent a good message and 10 that are some of my best work. I want to let you all know now that Users 2 will be released on October 14****th**** of 2013 and the title is… (time for dramatic pause) Users 2: Glitched. Let that sink in while you imagine where I am going with the rest of Users one. **

**This is still my final stretch. By now if you are reading this I am on summer break and hope to crack out my final chapters here soon. Now is the time, if you think that something from a game will be useful and awesome for a climax drop it in the reviews or send me a PM. I already have a cool climax written but it could use a few more items of fan service.**


	44. The Whore I mean Consort returns

**Ty:**

*Ascend Ty, just let go.*  
"AAaaahhhhh", I sat up quickly and began clawing at my chair as I took in my surroundings. I was sitting at a table across from Danny. There was a dance floor across from me and quasar machines on the elevated floor beside it.

"Hey, welcome to the land of the living. Did you have a nice nap", Danny questioned with a sarcastic tone.

I closed my eyes tight and opened them, "What happened? When do we leave for Ilos?"

"You're going to want a drink for this", He said as he grabbed a bottle off the table and unscrewed the cap.

My hands immediately clutched the seat, "When are we going to leave for Illos?"

Danny set the drink over by me and raised his glass, "A toast, to one hell of a ride."

I threw the glass back and then slammed it on the table, "We got kicked off, didn't we?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck and poured two more shots, "Yep, but look on the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"We get to stay here… and drink!"

I smacked Danny in the shoulder, "That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. The Ge-"  
"I think it is a relatively smart idea for you two to relax."

The voice came from behind us both and we looked at the exact same time to see the Consort, "Consort? Here?"

She sat down across from me next to Danny, "Hello boys, how has it been since you left my office?"

Shrugging, Danny said, "Haven't gotten laid since then."

"That was in your head, meaning you still haven't been laid since you got here", The Consort replied in a mocking tone.

"Oh, need some ice for that burn Danny", I asked laughing.

Danny threw back the drink he poured and looked at me, "I don't know, why don't you tell her how you got penetrated?"

"Skewered", I said immediately, "I was skewered on a piece of wreckage sticking off a destroyed tank."

The Consort sat back in her chair and let her hands fall into her lap, "Oh my, sounds like that's something you would want to pin on your wall."

"Are you here to make fun of us or hear our accomplishments", Danny interrupted clearl annoyed.  
"I am here to listen, go on", the Consort replied with a wave of her hand

"I fell out of a ship and had to land in the water to survive", I said, holding my head up.

"Well, I killed a tiger man that was beating Ty senseless."

"I stopped a Geth Collosus from killing Garrus and Danny."

"I stopped an intergalactic bounty hunter from tearing Ty a new one."

"Yeah, after you played dead for five minutes", I replied sneering.

"Well, it's called strategy", Danny said, getting angrier.

"The strategy to being a coward or-"

The Consort cut me off before I could go any farther, "Boys, boys, lets rewind a little. Do you know why I'm asking you to tell me about your experiences?"

I looked at Danny and shrugged while he replied, "Because they are all together badass?"

"Let me put it another way. Ty, stretch out your hands", she said, setting her hands open-palmed on the table.

I placed my hands in hers and looked up at her, "You're not going to do what I think you are, right?"

"Mind meld? Why, yes", the Consort said as she closed her eyes, "embrace eternity."

I felt my body tense and everything in my vision shifted to black. It opened slowly to Earth after the reapers had invaded. There was a figure standing on a hill and the Reapers were running from him… no, not running, they were rushing. As if he commanded them.

Slowly my vision moved forward, it flowed toward the figure standing on the hill. The figure slowly took shape until he was human. It got more and more detailed until I realized… he was me. It was the same vision as before, but I was commanding the Reapers. The last time I had this vision the figure was in my arms. This time it was lying on the ground by my feet. It had a little more shape now. I could tell it was a woman, but that was it.

The closer I got to the… myself, the more I noticed that the green glow had transformed into a blue. Then the blue formed a pattern and I almost lost it. I didn't have my eyes, I had Saren's eyes. I felt my heart jump and a panic ensued. I was pulled back and out of the vision and felt like I fell into my own body.

I took my hand back and covered my face, the bile in my stomach shot up and I put my head to the left and threw up. When I removed my hands and looked, I had blown chunks all over the Volus bartender. Then the smell caught me and I looked away and covered my nose.

"Sorry, sir."

"I (inhale) can't believe (inhale) you just did that. (Inhale) get out (inhale) get out!"

All three of us stood and I shot the Consort an angry look, "Seriously? I thought you were a controller AI. Couldn't you have shown me that on a small video screen or something?"

We began walking out of the bar and Danny laughed as loud as he could, "You just emptied your guts on the overweight asthmatic. That made my day. We are going to be confronting Saren and instead of being afraid, scared, or discomforted, I am just going to warn them to stay away from your explosive stomach. Ahahahahahaha, that's fucking great!"

I rubbed my forehead and tried to ignore Danny, "Why did the vision change?"

The Consort continued to walk forward keeping a straight posture and swaying her hips, "It's because you took a path we did not calculate for. Chakwas, Dumb AI controller, and I have all worked your experience so it will end like that. The hill, the Reapers, and the body. No matter what you do, it will end like this."

We left the bar and stopped in the airlock, "So how do I change it."

The Consort smiled, "With your experiences. You have to go to Saren and use what you have experienced to beat him. It is the one thing that you have that Saren doesn't."

"My experiences, what the hell does that mean?"

The Consort put her hand on the wall and matrix code flooded from her hand. It molded and formed into a small screen. The Consort then waved to us and had us gather around the screen.

"Your experiences", as she talked, the screen showed pictures of the places and experiences she mentioned, "from the fight on Noveria, to the fall onto Virmire, the fist fight on the Citadel, and the one on one with the Geth Colossus on Feros. Saren is a dumb AI at heart, meaning he can only remember what he experienced in your previous playthroughs. He can only counteract what is set to happen, not what happens randomly. You can easily put him down if you use the random encounters, fights, and tactics you can make up in being a User."

Danny leaned against the wall and shook his head, "We can't go back in time and make Saren be in the situations we were in."

I smacked Danny in the shoulder, "You idiot, she means that Saren can't-"

There was a loud boom outside and the station's lights flicked out and stayed out. I moved my hand around and tried to find the Consort but she was gone. Instead I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me down and just as the lights came on I saw a little girl with wise eyes.

**Shepard:**

Shepard was standing on an open plain and he had chains on his wrists. They were heavy, restricting and didn't allow him to move the way he wanted to. At the same time, they felt like they were helping him. They were strong, secure and something about them told Shepard they were helping him.

The chains then fell off and Shepard realized that the plain was slanted. He began sliding down the side of the plain grabbing at the chains trying to hold them but they moved away and he fell to the edge of the plain.

Shepard held the edge of the plain and began trying to climb back up but the plain tipped a little more and he fell off. Shepard grabbed (at air) as he fell. Down and down until he felt a pair of hands set on his chest and shake him.

Shepard woke with a startle as he twitched and grabbed the pair of hands and held the person attached to them to the bed. Slowly, Shepard's eyes cleared and he realized that the person he was holding down was Ashley.

"Well, are you going to let me go or have you just developed a new sexual fetish", Ashley questioned seductively.

Shepard let go of the Gunnery Sergeant's arms and rolled over onto the other side of the bed, "So, what brings you to my room now?"

Ashley put her hands on her stomach and just relaxed looking at the ceiling, "I don't know, the world mig Ashley put her hands on her stomach and just relaxed, looking at the ceiling. 'I don't know', she replied with a sigh in her voice, 'the world might end, you have issues, I have issues, and I just poured my heart out to someone whose face I have never seen.'

A smile came to Shepard's lips, "Hehe, tough day?"

"More like tough week. I don't know if I will ever fully recover from the mental trauma that came with Virmire."

Shepard sat up on his elbow, "Is there anything I can do to lessen it for you?"

Ashley's hand shot up around Shepard's neck and pulled him in giving him a long hard kiss. They lay for several minutes just kissing and embracing. Then Shepard worked his hand under Ashley's shirt and began to pull it up.

As if a command had been given, the comm buzzed and Joker's voice rang like the voice of the devil telling him to stop. "Attention crew, we will reach Illos in exactly thirty minutes. Ground team, begin equipment check and meet in the cargo bay. Shepard, please report to the bridge. We may have an issue."

"God damn it!"

**Hey people, got another chapter out on a Monday. Want to send a big thanks to my new betareader BJ Hanssen. Show him a lot of love if you write a review. Seriously big thanks dude.**

**Another thank you goes to TREBOR117. He has sent some shout outs to me the last couple chapters so I might as well do the same. Even though, you probabl already are or have, go check out Stuck in a World of Fiction by TREBOR. The guy writes a masterpiece.**

**Well, until next Monday. To all my fans I say...  
ROAD HOUSE!**


	45. Here we go, hope for the best

**Shepard:**

"Joker, you cock blocking son of a bitch, what's wrong", Shepard questioned as he entered the bridge.

Navigator Presley cut in before Joker could speak a word, "We can't land the Mako. You need at least one-hundred yards of clear land. The most I can find is fifty."

Joker followed Presley's statements with his own as if it had been said several times, "I don't need one-hundred yards to make it. I only need twenty-five at most."

"This is ridiculous! You are playing with the commander's life here. Commander Shepard, I suggest dropping the Mako about fifty miles back from the target zone. It is a bit of a drive but you will land alive."

Shepard looked from Presley to Joker, "Keep it inside the lines, Joker. I will be down in the Mako for when you are ready to launch."

Joker threw a thumb up, "You got it Shepard."

Shepard turned around and walked away, but behind him, he could hear the anger in Presley's voice as he read off coordinates to Joker. Making his way to the cargo bay, He stopped by his locker to grab his gear. One heavy Onyx armor and all his elite weapons he had picked up from boxes in Virmire.

He had just locked his gear in place when Chakwas stepped out of the med-bay. She looked around for a second before seeing him, "Hello Commander, mind if I do a quick vitals check? I just need to make sure you are one-hundred percent for the mission."

After adjusting his pistol on his hip Shepard gave a nod and followed Chakwas into the med-bay, "Let's make this quick, Doctor. We only have twenty-minutes before we are in range."

She nodded and did a scan over the Commander with her omni-tool and looked over the results, "Well, that's interesting."

"What is it", Shepard questioned.

"Nothing you need be concerned about", Chakwas quickly replied before turning around and walking over to her console.

If it were any other time Shepard would be questioning the hell out of Chakwas. In his experience, "interesting" usually lead to the situation becoming worse but the fact that Chakwas was assuring him that it was nothing to be worried about made him feel fine.

"Alright Chakwas, I guess I will see you after the mission." Turning on his heels, Shepard made his way to the door but heard Chakwas' reply as he left.

"Yes, watch the road. Walls can catch you off guard."

He wanted to ask what she meant, but time was short and the window was getting closer and closer. Stepping on the elevator Shepard felt a ping go through him. The feeling quickly passed and he hit the down button.

As the elevator went down, he could hear the ground crew talking in the cargo bay, "I think I should be the one to go. Shepard may be fine and dandy but nothing can beat having a good sniper watching your back."

"Yeah right, Garrus, the Commander has better sniper skills then you do. Besides, he needs someone who can cut down an army of Geth with an omni-tool", Shepard heard Tali retort.

There was a pause followed by a loud buzz, "What a coincidence, this allows me to do just that."

The door opened and Shepard saw Garrus holding some sort of omni-tazer toward the quarian, "Ten hut." Everyone fell in line, "Alright, this isn't the time to mess around. We need to seriously consider what might happen down there."

Garrus stepped forward, "Commander, I volunteer for the mission. I've spent the time since Virmire studying medi-gel and how to use it to its maximum potential."

Shepard did not even take a second to think about it and interrupted, "Step back, Garrus, I have been taking all your reports into consideration. Ultimately, the question is what are we going to face?"

"Chances go toward heavy use of Geth armatures, multiple Colossuses, and at least an army and a half of basic Geth units", Tali pointed out as if she had weighed all the options.

Liara followed up, "That means you are going to need a heavy hitter, and with Wrex gone that means I am your only option."

"That's ridiculous, biotics may be powerful but nothing can stand up to straight fire power", Ashley interrupted.

The Commander turned away from the crew and began to weight his options, as far as he could see it they all were great options but only two could fit in the Mako. He would have to be smart and figure who would be the best selection. Closing his eyes, he felt the answer come to 's eyes shot open and he turned to his crew.

"Alright, Tali and Liara load up. I already have firepower, so what I really need is strong tech and biotics. Garrus, go up to Joker and see what you can do about the Normandy's guns. Ashley, load the ground team up with top equipment. Let's move, people, we have a galaxy to save!"

**Ty:**

My breath caught and I found myself unable to speak at all, luckily she could, "Hello again Ty."

"I, ugh, um…"

Danny cut in and gave me a second to catch myself, "Where did the Consort go?"

The little girl looked at him with her wise eyes, "We AI are of one mind and body. I control the bodies and minds of all AI. Therefore, I can move them and replace one with another. The consort is an AI and I replaced her with me."

"Where is she now?"

The little girl scowled already annoyed, "Look, we don't have time. The Geth attack has already begun, and since Chakwas is gone it is up to me to give you guys enough of an edge to ensure you can beat Saren.

"Wait a second", I processed the information she just gave us, "you don't think we can beat him?"

"Oh please, you have a one in ten chance of succeeding in your goal", she replied, letting go of my arm.

I pushed past her and walked over to the door, "Let's go, Danny. One in ten, one in one-hundred… odds mean nothing."

"Aw, what's wrong? Afraid this is what I was talking about?"

I stopped just shy of the control panel, "That hasn't even crossed my mind since you said it."

"Really, you sure it hasn't been in your head? Just sitting there and festering", she asked, with the innocence of an actual eight-year-old girl.

"No, I haven't. Because, frankly, you AI can't predict what I am going to do. You can take into account the best possible outcome, but that is it. The Consort just assured us of this, and that's how we are going to beat Saren."

"Oh, Ty", she smiled, "the other AI can't control the people around you. Now, disrespect me one more time and I will not hesitate to 'accidentally' blow you out of a fucking airlock."

"Fine, but you talk to Danny. I'm going to check what is happening on the Presidium", I said, turning away and hitting the unlock button.

Outside the door was squad after squad of C-sec hightailing it into position, awaiting the Geth. Looking up, I saw a swarm of Geth drop-ships heading straight toward the plasma barrier that simulated the sky. Immediately, my hand went to my gun and I pulled the Tsunami off my back.

Two Geth bombers flew down and fired off rounds at the sky barrier. The glass that held off enemies broke and all that was holding the icy cold kiss of space back was a thin plasma barrier. A plasma barrier that would allow the drop ships to pass through.

"Danny, we are about to have company!'

I turned back around and the little girl was nowhere to be found. Danny, on the other hand was holding his head and just finding his reply, "Shit, let me see."

Danny walked over and peaked out the door as I pointed what was happening, "Tons of drop-ships and Sovereign will be here soon."

He squinted and adjusted his glasses, "Ugh, I can't see worth shit right now."

"What do you mean?"

"The little girl manipulated something in me and now all I can see is matrix code."

I grabbed him and pinned him to the wall, "What, how is that supposed to help us?"

"She said that I would be able to see glitches that can help us", he said as something caught his eye. he walked over to one of the walls and put his hand to it, "I think this is one right here."

"What the fuck are you talking about", I scoffed.

"This", he hand plunged into the wall and blue matrix code flooded out of the hole. Slowly he grabbed it with his other hand and began to extend the hole. The hole was about two feet wide by the time I could see what was on the other side.

"Is that the Citadel tower?"

Danny looked over at me and gave his smirk, "I guess a glitch on the wall leads to a different place. makes sense."

"How?"

"Well, have you ever played Crash Bandicoot?"

I thought for a second, "Yeah, why?"

He put his foot on the edge of the hole and opened it up until it reached from his hand to his foot, "Well, there are plenty of instances where you can jump into certain parts of walls and it will glitch you to different parts of the level."

"Okay, so what's the plan? We go in there and wait for Saren?"

He gave a nod and though about it for a minute, "We could do that, but what about Cody? Another thing, wouldn't it be better if we cut Saren off before he reaches the tower?"

"Alright, let's go send a message", I cracked my knuckles and Danny let the glitch close.

** Hey, hope you enjoyed the new chapter. On the subject, I used my interpretation of how I think the Citadel sky works. I remember reading that it was glass to hold the projections and they shut off at night so I assume that it would have a plasma barrier like the Normandy when holes are blown in it.**

** If you have a second send a shout out to my new betareader BJ Hanssen. I really appreciate what he is doing and you should too.**

** Last, I know most of my followers from the beginning are going to ask the serious question of why didn't I leave the ground team up from my readers to decide and it's simple. There was no way I could get as much out of this ending as I can with Tali and Liara. They both have played bigger roles then Ashley or Garrus and without Wrex there were no real options for me.**

** I am going to work my but off in what little free time I get this weekend to post my new chapter on Monday but any support you can give will be very appreciated.**


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